


General Hugs and Kisses

by SlytherinPirate



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Fake Dating, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, crackfic, i figured it out, i'm gonna make 2 endings one for gingerpilot and one for stormpilot and kylux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 14:11:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 21,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13412955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlytherinPirate/pseuds/SlytherinPirate
Summary: General Hux of the First Order has been having regular radio conversations with Poe Dameron of the Resistance in which Poe complains about how he likes Finn and doesn't know if Finn likes him back. Poe needs to make Finn jealous somehow, and Hux is way too invested in this to back out now.





	1. You Did What Now

**Author's Note:**

> special thanks to TheZ1337 (on both ao3 and tumblr) for betaing this dumb fic lmao <33

“So, I uh, I got a boyfriend.”

Finn whirled about to look at Poe in surprise. They were heading to the makeshift rec center that the remaining Resistance had made on the small planet they were now inhabiting in the Outer Rim, and Poe had chosen to drop this ZR-57 orbital strike bomb on him as they walked.

“You what? When? Who - ” Finn cleared his throat and tried to calm himself down, hoping against hope that his jealousy at whatever damn thing Poe had decided to date that wasn’t him hadn’t shown too much on his face. “Uh, who is it?” he asked, much more casually than before , if he did say so himself. “Do I, uh, know him?” He mentally hit himself. Of course he would know them. The Resistance had so few people left at this point that everybody now knew everybody else.

“It happened yesterday,” Poe said calmly, continuing to walk slowly towards the rec center. “And you do know him. I don’t think you like him very much, though.” Finn furrowed his brow at this.

“I like everybody in the Resistance just fine.”  _ For now _ , he thought, thinking of the faceless handsome man who had managed to snag (and snog) Poe.

“He’s… not in the Resistance,” Poe admitted. Now Finn was even more confused. They hadn’t had contact with anyone who wasn’t Resistance or occasionally First Order since before the Starkiller Base mission. Poe looked to his left to see Finn’s confused countenance and stopped, turning to him. “I’m dating General Hux of the First Order.” Of all the things Finn has expected Poe to maybe say,  _ that  _ certainly wasn’t one of them. After a moment of silence, Finn’s face turned into a grin and he snorted.

“Very funny, Poe.” He rolled his eyes, still smiling, terribly relieved. Poe didn’t have a boyfriend at all, he was just fucking with him. 

“No, seriously, Finn! I’m dating Hux!” Finn stared incredulously at Poe. He was still trying to go at this joke even though Finn saw through it right away? “Really, Finn. Here, I’ll call him.”

“Call him?” Finn inquired sarcastically, still not believing a word of what Poe was saying. 

“Yeah, follow me, I’ll show you.” Poe turned and led Finn down an adjacent hallway that led to the flight deck. Finn was trusting Poe less and less,  since  he was obviously leading him to some stupid prank.

Soon they got to the deck and made their way quickly over to Poe’s X-Wing. Poe climbed  in and snatched up his radio. Finn raised an eyebrow.

“You’re going to call General Hux,” he said, utterly disbelieving and slightly bemused.

“Yup. I got access to his personal radio frequency a while back and we’ve been talking ever since. And the other day, well.. . ” Poe winked and Finn snorted again. He crossed his arms as Poe called someone on the radio. Maybe Rey was in on this, whatever this was, and he was calling her, Finn theorized. Someone picked up on the other end and Finn watched as Poe spoke into the radio. “Hey,  _ babe _ ,” he said, suggestively. There was a moment’s silence before the person on the other end replied.

“Hello, darling.” Finn’s face fell and his eyes widened. That definitely sounded like General Hux.

“How’s the First Order going, sweetie?” Poe was grinning from ear to ear as Finn stared at him dumbfounded.

“Oh you know I can’t tell you that, pumpkin. After all, you won’t tell me anything about the Resistance, either.” Finn swallowed a lump in his throat. The same clipped accent, the same pristine way of speaking that he had heard in countless speeches, and even up close in his face on a couple of occasions (one very recently, in fact).

“Sorry babe, you know what it’s like.” Poe sighed. “The tragedy of two lovers on opposite sides of a war.”

“Yes, well.” Hux cleared his throat on the other end. “What is it you want to talk about?”

“Yeah, see my friend Finn is here! I figured he’d want to say hi, now that we’re dating and all.”

“Ah, yes. Hello, FN-218--”

“Hux, what did we talk about?” Poe interrupted him, looking sternly at the radio. Finn heard a distinct sigh from the other end.

“Finn,” Hux said. Poe smiled. “Hello, Finn.” Poe turned back to Finn and gestured for him to say something. Finn glanced wide-eyed between Poe and the radio in his hand a few times before saying anything.

“This… This is not happening. This is some Force banthashit right here. Whatever prank this is, like, kudos, Poe, seriously, but it’s kinda freaking me out.”

“Unfortunately,” came Hux’s voice again. Finn’s head snapped back up to stare at the radio. “This is no prank. I seem to have found myself… stuck with this idiot somehow.”

“Aw c’mon Hux, you know you love me.” Poe flashed that cheeky grin of his again and Finn heard another exasperated sigh from the radio but no denials of Poe’s claim.

“Perhaps we should go on an actual date soon, darling,” Hux said. “Somewhere neutral. We’ll both bring guards, of course--”

“I always bring protection on dates, Hux,” Poe said with a wink and Finn continued to stare at him in shock. Hux gave an irritated little “tch” sound on the other end. “But no, yeah, that sounds great, Hux,” Poe said. “A little treaty or something, just for a night. For us.”

“For us, yes,” Hux replied. “I will look into some locations.”

“That’d be perfect,” Poe said with another smile. “I’ll talk to you later, babe, alright?”

“Yes, talk to you soon, darling.” Poe shut off the radio and looked around at Finn, who was still staring at him, wide-eyed. They stood facing each other for a few moments before Finn finally broke the silence.

“Poe, what the actual fuck.”


	2. In Too Deep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look at how Poe and Hux got into the situation of pretending to date in the first place

A FEW WEEKS EARLIER

 

“Hello this is Poe Dameron, I’d like to speak to General Hux.”

“Blasted-- not this again. How did you even get access to this frequency?” Hux had received the call in his office, thinking it to be one of his underlings reporting to him about something or other, but no. Of course, with his luck it had to be Poe bloody Dameron of the loathsome Resistance.

“Yeah I’ll hold for General Hux . ”

“I’m hanging up , Dameron.”

“No wai--” Hux slammed the radio down and rubbed his temples for a moment before rushing to the bridge to see if there were any Resistance crafts in sight. If Dameron had called him it might have been another distraction, just like last time. But there was no Resistance craft in sight, let alone an oncoming attack. So why  _ had  _ Dameron called him again? Perhaps the annoying flyboy was just bored.

 

Hux’s hunch that Dameron was calling him out of boredom seemed to be correct, as it happened again only a few days later.

“Hello this is Poe Dameron, may I speak to General Hux?” Hux sighed audibly in irritation at the sound of the pilot’s voice on the other end of the radio.

“What do you want, Dameron?”

“I’m holding for General Hux.”

“I’m not going to answer again if you keep pulling the same moronic joke every time.”

“... I’ll hold.” Hux rolled his eyes.

“Goodbye, Dameron.” He started to put the radio down again when he heard yelling coming out of it.

“Wait, Hux! Sorry, sorry.” The voice laughed. Hux gritted his teeth in irritation, but he supposed if this pilot really wanted to talk to him for some reason ,  he might as well try and get some information out of him. Perhaps he could find out in  what system that run-down old Falcon was  located .

“What is it ? ” he asked, his voice relaying clear annoyance.

“I dunno… I guess I don’t really have anyone else to talk to about this, and I have access to your private radio frequency, so like..” Hux quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

“Excuse me?”

“See,” Dameron continued, doing nothing to quell Hux’s everlasting confusion. “I really like Finn… You know, Finn. He used to be a stormtrooper, that Finn. Anyways, I really like him but he’s been spending a lot of time with our friend Rose lately, and they seem really close, and I dunno… I don’t know if they’re just friends or what…”

“Well maybe you should just tell this ‘Finn’ how you feel and--” Hux blinked several times to bring himself back to reality. “Hold on, you’re wasting my time! I have better things to do than deal with your relationship issues, rebel scum!”

“Hey wait--” Hux slammed the radio down again and gritted his teeth. How dare this Resistance piece of garbage seek to waste his time with personal nonsense! Still… Hux couldn’t help but be slightly curious as to how Dameron’s thing with FN-2187 would go. He could only hope that he would never find out, because he absolutely did not want Dameron to call him again. Perhaps he should consider getting a new radio installed…

 

Hux did not get a new radio, and Poe Dameron continued to call him. After a couple of more calls that ended with Hux slamming the radio down after only a minute or so, he finally gave in and decided to hear what Poe had to say. A few conversations later, he was giving full-on advice to this treacherous Resistance scum, because damn if he wasn’t now invested in this man’s stupid love life.

“I saw them holding hands today,” Poe was saying while Hux leaned back in his chair, listening while going over some blueprints for a new shuttle that was being built for the Order.

“That’s not a good sign,” he replied idly.

“I know, right?” Poe sounded utterly exasperated. “And it’s super frustrating because Rose and Finn are both my friends but I’m just… I’m…”

“Jealous?” Hux suggested. Poe sighed.

“Yeah, I guess so… I don’t know what to do, Hux…”

“Do you think he might like you back?”

“Well he’s showed some signs. Like casual flirting and whatnot, but I don’t know…”

“Well perhaps you can find out by trying to make  _ him  _ jealous. Ever think of that?” Poe was silent for a moment, presumably thinking about Hux’s suggestion.

“Yeah… I guess that would be a way of finding out if he feels the same way. But how would I even do it?”

“I don’t know,” Hux replied, scribbling down some notes on his blueprints. “It’s your messed-up love life, you have to figure it out.”

“Maybe I could pretend to date someone,” Poe said into the phone, thinking aloud.

“Now there’s a start,” replied Hux.

“But who?”

“I don’t know, Perhaps someone that would make him upset. There may be someone in the Resistance he dislikes who might be willing to do this.” Poe was silent for a few moments once more.

“I… I think I know someone that Finn dislikes a lot. I honestly can’t think of anyone else who would fit the criteria of being disliked by Finn  _ and  _ willing to help me out.”

“Oh good,” said Hux, still a bit distracted by his work. “You had better approach them with this idea, then.”

“But they’re not in the Resistance,” Poe said.

“Oh?” Hux said, slightly confused. It took him a moment or two to get what Poe was implying and his pen stopped scribbling notes on his blueprint immediately. He sat up in his chair and glared at the opposite wall. “No,” he stated flatly. “Absolutely not.”

“Oh come on, Hux, it’d be brilliant!”

“Unlike you, scoundrel, I have a reputation to uphold. A First Order general cannot  _ go _ with rebel scum like you, even if it is all just pretend.”

“It’ll totally work, though. Finn would go absolutely nuts if he thought I was dating General Hux of the First Order . I mean, it’s ridiculous!”

“Yes, it is ridiculous!”

“Maybe it can benefit you, too! Is there anyone you’d like to make jealous?” Hux was silent for a moment.

“No,” he said.  _ Maybe, _ his thoughts betrayed him. He mentally swatted away the image of an infuriatingly handsome scarred face and shook his head. As much as he’d like to fuck with Ren by dating a known enemy, he wasn’t sure it was worth risking his reputation and, depending on Ren’s reaction, potentially his neck.

“Come on Hux, you  _ hate  _ Kylo Ren,” Poe said, as though reading Hux’s mind. Hux had the sudden thought that perhaps Poe was force sensitive, but he decided not to dwell on it for the time being as Poe continued talking. “He would be so hilariously pissed if he found out you were dating me.”

“My ship has already suffered enough damage at the hands of that tantruming child,” Hux remarked. “It doesn’t need more.”

“Hux,” Poe said, his voice suddenly softer, sadder. “I kinda thought we were beginning to become, well… friends. I wasn’t wrong, was I?” Hux closed his eyes and sighed through his nose. How dare Dameron play this card. Much as he loathed to admit it, at this point Dameron was probably the first real friend he had ever had, and he was a damn Resistance pilot!  _ Says something about my poor taste, _ Hux mused. He deeply regretted getting himself into the situation of being “friends” with Poe Dameron.

“Fine,” he said, finally. “But this must stay only between you, me, and FN-2187. Got it?”

“Hey,” Poe said. “His name is Finn.  _ Finn. _ ” Hux sighed.

“Finn,”  Hux conceded. He could practically hear Dameron grinning on the other end of the radio .

“Thanks so much,  _ honey, _ ” he said, causing Hux to positively snarl, despite Poe not being able to see him. “This is gonna be fun, I can tell.” And with that, Poe hung up, leaving Hux dreading whatever it was that he had just gotten himself into.


	3. The Supreme Leader is Back, But This Time It's Personal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new Supreme Leader finds out about his general's situation with a resistance pilot.

He wouldn’t have to tell him.  _ Right? _

Hux stared at his datapad, not really seeing it, thinking hard. Why the hell had he suggested an actual date? It was complete idiocy on his part because apparently Poe now actually expected him to  _ go through with it. _ He had found a nice restaurant on the planet Cantonica, just a bit outside the city of Canto Bight. The planet was neutral and Hux knew for a fact that many of their weapons suppliers there sold to both sides of the war. That fact, plus the luxuriousness of the  planet’s attractions, made it an ideal place for a date between Poe and Hux.

Now, however, Hux had to find a way to get himself and a couple of capable guards to Cantonica , and be low-key about it. He  _ was  _ the General ; it should be no problem to just command some troopers to get into a shuttle with him and jump straight to lightspeed, right? No. No, the more Hux thought about it, the more it seemed he would have no choice but to tell…  _ him.  _ He tapped  the stylus anxiously against his desk as he thought desperately for  a loophole. Under no circumstances did he want the new “Supreme Leader” to find out about his predicament. His watch beeped suddenly and he glanced at it before sighing. He got up and donned his greatcoat to head to the bridge, still thinking. 

There wasn’t a lot to do on the bridge this cycle, thankfully, which gave Hux more time to think. He was beginning to grow very frustrated with himself. He prided himself on creative problem solving and being able to get an entire empire out of tight situations so why. Couldn’t. He. Figure. Out. This.

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice someone else entering the bridge until he was suddenly thrown against the wall. He yelped in pain as he collided with it and tried to  pull himself up as soon as possible after hitting the floor. 

“What in kriffing hells was that for--” he began to shout, but was interrupted by an invisible force wrapping around his throat. Not again… Kylo Ren stepped closer to him, his unmasked face hardened into a glare. “What ? ” Hux choked out, struggling to breathe. Ren stepped even closer.

“What,” he said, his voice quiet but full of malice. “Are you doing with Poe Dameron?”

_ Fuck,  _ Hux thought immediately.  _ Mind reader.  _ Hux glared daggers at Ren, shouting with his mind  _ LET ME THE FUCK GO  _ as loud as he possibly could. Ren released his Force-hold and Hux managed to land on his feet. He straightened up and sneered at Ren.

“It is my duty to watch the bridge right now. We can discuss this matter later, Supreme Leader.” Hux dragged out the last two words, his voice dripping with venom. Kylo gritted his teeth.

“We will discuss it now.” Hux glanced around, aware of everybody on the bridge staring at the scene that Kylo was making. He looked back at Ren, putting his hands behind his back and giving his “superior” a haughty glare.

“Fine,” he conceded. Without giving Ren time to begin questioning him further, he strode  off the bridge and started heading back to his office. Ren, thank all the  stars , followed him without complaint.

Once in his office, Hux calmly went over to sit down at his desk. Kylo Ren whirled on him, his anger back almost in full-force.

“Hux, what the hell were you thinking about Poe Dameron for? I saw it in your mind on the bridge, what is this?”  H e yelled. Hux, being used to Ren’s obnoxious loudness, simply looked at him in slight disinterest.

“Tell me, Supreme Leader,” Hux said, looking Ren in the eyes. “What precisely was I thinking about?”

“You…” Kylo gritted his teeth again, his face beginning to get a bit of color. “You were thinking about… a date?” Kylo crossed his arms and shifted his feet. “Is this some kind of fantasy of yours, General?” Hux picked up his datapad, showing Ren explicitly how little he cared for this conversation.

“No, Supreme Leader,” he said, formulating a plan as he spoke. “I am doing personal reconnaissance for the Order by becoming… personal with one of the Resistance’s most influential members.” 

“Why do you have to do it? We can send any trooper or officer to do this mission instead.”

“I’m doing it because I’m the one he’s been calling.” Ren furrowed his brow.

“He’s been calling you?”

“Yes, for quite a while now actually.” Hux opened up the menu for the restaurant he had picked out and began skimming it lazily.

“So you’re…” Kylo glanced at the page open on Hux’s datapad. “Actually going on a date with him?”

“Yes,” Hux replied simply. Ren stood in silence for a moment.

“Are you,” he began, looking away from Hux. “Are you going to have to… kiss him or anything?” At this, Hux looked up at Ren.

“Why should that matter?” he inquired. Ren looked back at him, opened his mouth, and then closed it again, choosing instead to simply sigh heavily through his nose.

“It will be very dangerous,” he said, finally.

“I’m obviously bringing guards,” Hux said, going back to his datapad.

“Yes,” Ren said. “And one of them will be me.”

“Excuse me?” Hux looked up at Ren once more, who had his arms crossed again and was looking at Hux with such childlike determination that Hux almost laughed at him. They looked at each other for a few moments before Hux rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he said. “But don’t kill Dameron. We need him alive.”

“Fine,” Kylo repeated, arms still crossed and his voice harsh.

“Is that all you need of me for now, Supreme Leader?” Kylo shifted his feet again, looking as though he was trying to find a reason to keep Hux from his duties for a little while  longer. Finally, he shook his head. “Good,” Hux said, standing up. “I will be on the bridge if you decide you do need anything else.” He made his way towards the door. Before he exited, he spoke again. “Though I must say, Ren, I don’t know why you care so much about this trivial matter.” He left, leaving Ren standing awkwardly alone in the middle of Hux’s office.

“I don’t,” he said, after a while. After all, the only reason he was so angry was because Hux had started on an important plan without letting him know... Right? Suddenly Hux’s radio on his desk beeped. Ren looked at it in alarm. Could it be… He picked it up.

“Hey, babe,” came the unmistakable , cocky voice of that damned pilot.

“Poe Dameron,” Kylo replied, trying to put as much hate into his voice as possible. 

“Oh, shit…” Kylo held the radio up close to his face.

“Listen here, you scum,” he said, quietly but menacingly. “I’m going with you on yours and Hux’s little ‘date.’ If you lay a single filthy hand on him, I’ll--”

“You’ll what?” Poe asked, his voice relaying a smirk. “Torture me? Uncreative, you’ve already done that. Kill me?” Kylo could hear him chuckle. “I’d like to see you try.”

“I’ll do things to you  that  you’ve never even dreamed of.”

“ You s ound a little jealous, there, Supreme Leader.” Kylo blinked, taken aback and frankly affronted by this accusation.

“How dare you, you rebel piece of shi--”

“Listen, bud,” said Poe. “I’m not scared of you. Hux though, I’m not sure. Maybe you’d have got him if you weren’t such a dick. Unfortunately for you, I got there first.” Kylo yelled in anger and threw the radio on the ground with all his might, using the force to positively smash it into the floor. For good measure he took out his lightsaber and  sliced the already broken radio. He turned off his lightsaber, panting, looking at the broken thing on the ground. Fuck, he thought . Hux was going to kill him when he saw this.


	4. The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's fighting over Hux! Except Finn, who fucking hates him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I'm adding this in here but I really quick just want to thank everybody who's been liking and commenting you guys seriously give me life and motivation to continue writing <333

“You look nice,” said Poe, eyeing Hux up and down in his dress uniform.

 

_ “Sir, aren’t you going on a date?” Phasma stopped Hux as he was headed to the shuttle that would take him to Canto _ _ n _ _ ica for his date with Poe Dameron. _

_ “Yes,” Hux replied sternly, a hint of color rising to his cheeks. _

_ “Why are you wearing your regular uniform?” Phasma inquired. Hux shifted awkwardly. _

_ “This is what I wear every day. Why wouldn’t I wear it now?” Phasma simply sighed. _

_ “Hux, you are going to Canto Bight. You need to dress formally.” Hux scowled but went back to his quarters to dig his dress uniform out from the back of his closet. _

 

“Thank you,” replied Hux, feeling unnecessarily overdressed as he noted Poe’s simple attire consisting of a plain white shirt with brown trousers and black boots. 

“I see you brought the party,” Poe remarked, smirking at Kylo Ren, who was standing a bit behind Hux. Not having his helmet to hide his face anymore, Ren gritted his teeth and glared at Poe. Hux turned to Poe’s companion and nodded.

“Good evening… Finn.” Finn simply narrowed his eyes at Hux. They were so caught up in the tension with each other that  none of them caught the exchange of confused looks between the stormtrooper that Hux had brought and the other Resistance fighter that Poe had brought.

Poe held out his arm to Hux. “Shall we go in, honey?” Hux took hold of Poe’s arm and gave him a small smile. They walked inside the restaurant Hux had picked out, followed by Finn, scowling, his arms crossed tightly, and Kylo, who was positively stomping in after them.

 

_ “What’s the matter now?” Kylo did not need to look up at the source of the exasperated voice to know who it was. _

_ “Leave me alone.” _

_ “I can’t, remember?” said Rey. She was sitting at a small table with a deck of cards in hand, presumably having been about to start a game. She stared at Ren, who was brooding in a corner of his quarters, facing the wall, his knees drawn up to his chest. “Really, what’s wrong?” Rey asked. “Did the Darth Vader fanclub cancel their monthly meeting or something?” Ren shot her a glare. _

_ “Have you heard anything lately about the social life of your pilot, Poe Dameron?” he asked her. Rey grimaced. _

_ “I did hear about that thing with your General,” she said with a sigh. “The whole thing confuses me to be honest.” She looked to the side, across the table. “Shut up, Finn.” She rolled her eyes, trying to conceal an amused smile. _

_ “They’re going on a date,” said Kylo, ignoring whatever Rey was doing on her side of the connection. “I’m going with them. To make sure that treacherous scum doesn’t try anything funny.” _

_ “I’m sure General Hux won’t try anything ‘funny,’” Rey said with a smirk. Kylo shot her another glare. _

_ “You know I was talking about Dameron.” _

_ “Yeah, well. You’re seriously going with them on their date? Seems below your  _ _ pay grade _ _ to be a petty guard.” She turned around again. “Finn, what--” After a moment she turned back to Kylo, who was looking at her quizzically. “Finn says to tell you that he’s going too.” She turned again. “Alright, alright!” She sighed as she looked back at Kylo once more. “And he says to let you know that he called you an asshole.” Kylo snorted. He opened his mouth to say something more to the scavenger girl but before he could, the connection disappeared. _

 

“Perhaps allow us some space? Please?” Hux glared at Finn, who was standing directly behind where Poe was sitting, then turned around to glare at Kylo, who was standing directly behind him. The two grumbled as they took a few steps back. Hux sighed. Good enough, he supposed. Poe chuckled and Hux looked up at him. “What?”

“It’s nothing, I just…” Poe grinned. “I love you when you’re snarky, it’s so fun.”

“I’m always like that,” Hux pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

“I know,” said Poe. Hux’s cheeks colored and he cleared his throat, not missing the way Finn’s hands balled into fists a few feet behind Poe. Well, at least their plan seemed to be working. And at the same time he got to torment this foul traitor.  It was a win-win, he supposed.

At that moment their waiter came to take their order. The poor man was trembling in fear, likely thinking that a battle was going to break out at any moment. The First Order had rented out the entire restaurant for a few hours, and Hux assumed that the owners and staff had thought they were throwing some kind of party. Instead they had brought their Supreme Leader, their General, and a few members of the Resistance. Hux chuckled inwardly, thinking about what must be going through this waiter’s mind.

As the waiter  took Hux and Poe’s order, Kylo stared at Finn, who was standing across from him , behind Poe. He sensed the anger, the jealousy; it was practically radiating off of him.  _ Huh _ , Kylo thought to himself . I t seemed that the former stormtrooper liked this relationship development between Hux and Poe just about as much as he himself did, which  wa s to say  _ not at all. _ Finn didn’t seem to be paying any attention to Kylo, despite the Knight being an obviously bigger threat, his eyes instead trained intensely on Hux.

_ FN-2187.   _ Finn’s head snapped up to look at Kylo as Kylo projected his thoughts into Finn’s head. Kylo’s lip twitched upwards a bit as he got Finn’s attention.  _ I see into your thoughts, traitor. I can sense what you feel. I know that you hate this situation as much as I do. _

_ What do you want, asshole, _ Finn thought back, his gaze hardening. 

_ I think,  _ thought Kylo, his smirk widening a bit.  _ That we may benefit from working together. _ Finn, suspicious but intrigued, raised an eyebrow.

 

“Come on babe, we gotta make this look real, remember?” Poe whispered to Hux as he held out his hand on the table. Hux scoffed but lifted his gloved hand to rest against Poe’s. Poe raised his eyebrows. “You wear gloves to dinner?” Hux’s nose twitched and his eyes narrowed, indicating to Poe that the answer to his question was  _ no.  _ Poe smiled and brought his other hand to where Hux’s hand was in his and slowly pulled off the General’s glove. Hux watched him as he did this, internally reeling, annoyed that Poe was completing this task much more slowly than he should be. His breath hitched as the glove came all the way off and Poe looked up at him with a charming smile. “You’re blushing, Hux.”

“I am not,” Hux said indignantly, though he could feel his face reddening more as he did so. He looked away from Dameron, trying to ignore the warmth of the other man’s hand upon his now ungloved one. 

“You gotta take off the other glove too, babe,” Poe pointed out, before reaching up his other hand again.

“I can do it myself,” Hux snapped, withdrawing his hand from Poe’s on the table to take off his remaining glove. “Please give me my other glove back, Poe.”

“Aw man, I was gonna put it under my pillow.” Poe laughed as Hux shot him a nasty look, noting how red the General’s face remained. “Just teasing,” he said. “Here.” He handed Hux the other glove. Hux sighed as he folded the gloves and put them in his coat pocket.

“How in the stars did I end up in this situation with you again?”

“Because I’m so damn pretty that you can’t resist me.” Hux scoffed again and looked back up at Poe once he had put away his gloves. They locked eyes for a moment and in that moment Hux thought, _I would sleep with this man in a heartbeat._ He gave a sharp intake of breath when his thoughts were interrupted by the waiter bringing their food. Hux thanked the waiter and picked up his silverware.

“So,” Poe said as he unrolled his napkin. “I haven’t been able to reach you since we figured out where and when to have our date. I almost thought you wouldn’t show. What happened?” Hux rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

“Apparently, someone decided it was a good idea to smash my radio to bits.” He turned around to glare at Ren, who was staring concentratedly somewhere past Poe. Upon feeling Hux’s eyes on him he blinked and looked down at him.

“What?”

“I was just telling Poe about how you continue to destroy my things.” Ren huffed.

“I’m the Supreme Leader, so technically they’re my things--”

“It was my radio!” Kylo looked past Hux in time to see Poe exaggeratingly mouthing the words ‘you’re a dick’ at him. He frowned and looked back at Hux.

“I’ll buy you a new one,” he said simply, trying not to remember the conversation he ’d had with Poe that caused him to destroy the radio in the first place. Hux pursed his lips and turned back towards Poe.

“Honestly,” he said to the pilot. “This is why I’ve got to go to the bloody Resistance to find a decent boyfriend.” Poe noticed Kylo grit his teeth behind Hux and smirked.

“I’d hope I’m a little more than just decent,” he said. The corner of Hux’s mouth twitched.

“I have yet to decide on that one, Dameron.”

_ Okay yeah, this has got to stop.  _ Kylo looked back up at Finn when he heard his thoughts after the brief and infuriating distraction. Finn was staring at him, determined.  _ What’s your plan? _

  
  


“I know this is all for pretend, and everything,” Hux said to Poe quietly as they exited the holo theatre arm-in-arm. “But this has been a wonderful evening.”

“Yeah?” Poe smiled. “Me too. I actually had a lot of fun.” He stopped walking and turned to face Hux. “Well… Until next time, I guess. Back to our usual radio conversations, once you get a new one, that is. At least there we don’t have an entourage.” He glanced at Finn, Kylo, and the other stormtrooper and Resistance fighter who were trailing a short distance behind them. Hux let out a small smile.

“Yes, back to our radio conversations it is,” he said, with a bittersweet tone to his voice. He locked eyes with Poe again, just now noticing how close they were standing to one another. Poe leaned in closer to whisper in Hux’s ear.

“May I kiss you, General?”

“Yes,” Hux breathed. And then Poe’s lips were on his. They kissed for only a moment before Hux heard Poe make a small choked noise. He pulled back to ask what was wrong but he didn’t have to as he saw Poe’s reddening face, his hands clawing at an invisible Force around his neck. Suddenly Poe was thrown against the wall of the building they were walking next to and held there.

“I told you, Dameron, if you laid a single filthy hand on him--” Kylo Ren had stepped forward, one hand outstretched, holding Poe against the wall by his throat with the Force.

“You’re just mad that I have the only thing that you can’t seem to take for yourself,” Poe choked out. “You’re one jealous bastard--” Poe cut off as Kylo knocked his head against the wall, tightening his Force-grip on the pilot’s throat.

“Ren, stop!” Hux stepped towards Kylo, his fury showing plainly on his face. “I told you not to hurt him!” Kylo persisted, not looking at Hux, and Hux went up to grab his arm. “Ren!” he shouted into Kylo’s ear. Kylo dropped Poe onto the ground and looked at Hux’s angry face, then down at Hux’s hand, which was still on his arm. “What is the matter with you, you child?” Hux sneered at Ren, who bitterly remembered what Poe had said to him before, ‘Maybe you’d have got him if you weren’t such a dick.’ He looked away from Hux, suddenly shameful. 

“We’re leaving,” he said. “Now.” Hux let go of his arm and went to go over to Poe, to help him up and to say goodbye. “That’s an order, General,” Kylo said, stopping Hux in his tracks. Hux locked eyes with Poe again, and Poe was almost surprised to see pity in them, perhaps remorse.

Kylo felt Finn’s gaze upon him and looked up at the rebel.  _ I swear to all the stars, asshole, _ Finn thought at him.  _ You hurt him again, I don’t give a damn if they keep dating, I am  _ never  _ going to help you. Understood?  _ Kylo frowned but gave him a curt nod. “Hux, we’re leaving,” he repeated, his eyes still on Finn. Hux tore his gaze away from Poe and began to reluctantly follow Kylo back to their ship. He couldn’t seem to be able to stop thinking about what Poe had said to Kylo: ‘I have the only thing that you can’t seem to take for yourself.’


	5. The Plan Is Going According To Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn and Kylo are in cahoots and are having a tough time trying to figure out a plan to break up Hux and Poe.

“Wait,” said Finn. “You’re telling me… that your plan is to try and get Hux to like  _ you _ ?” It was his and Kylo’s turn now to have regular radio conversations as they worked together in an attempt to break up Hux and Poe.

“Yeah,” replied Kylo, defensively. “What’s wrong with it?” Finn put a hand to his head and sighed, sitting down at the table next to where he had been pacing. Rey was sitting on the other chair reading something on a datapad, using the Force to be a lookout in case Poe were to come walking towards the seldom-used room. 

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Finn said sarcastically. “But Hux hates you.” Kylo frowned. He had, in fact, noticed this and thought about it, and was in the midst of trying to come up with a solution to this problem. He had been actively trying to not destroy Hux’s ship, and he had even been saying “hello” to Hux every time they passed each other in the hallway (to which Hux always replied with a confused and curt “hello” back). He was sitting at the small desk in his quarters, hunched over in frustrated concentration.

“So I have to get him to... not hate me,” he said.

“There’s an idea,” Finn replied.

“But how? I’ve already been trying and I don’t know if it’s working.” Kylo leaned back and sighed through his nose, frowning.

“I dunno,” said Finn. “Maybe give Hux something he wants? What does he want?” Kylo snorted and rolled his eyes.

“All he wants is power.”

“You’re the Supreme Leader now, dude. You can give him power.” Kylo blinked. He hadn’t thought of that , a nd giving Hux a promotion didn’t seem like a bad idea . A fter all, he was basically already doing most of the duties of a Grand Marshal anyways, and the stars knew that Kylo was in desperate need of help in ruling the First Order.

“I…” he said thoughtfully. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Anything else?”

“I don’t know. Rey, what do you think?” There was a pause while Finn turned to Rey and Kylo listened closely, trying to discern what she may be saying on the other side. “Okay,” Finn said after a moment, sounding amused.

“What’d she say?” asked Kylo, eager for the opinion of the young jedi. While she was incredibly annoying, Kylo  had to admit that she was also incredibly powerful. And girls were supposed to be good at romance, right?

“She says she doesn’t want to talk to you unless she has to,” Finn said, his voice betraying a smile. Kylo grimaced, thinking of their Force conversations.

“Very well,” he stated. “I’ll try promoting him.”

  
  


Rey’s vision obscured and in front of her she suddenly saw Kylo Ren, in a conference room on the  _ Finalizer _ , looking very incredulously somewhere off to Rey’s left. When he turned and noticed Rey, he made a gesture with his thumb to point in the direction he had just been looking.

“Did you see that?” he asked her, still with the completely annoyed and dumbfounded expression. 

“The Force connected us like, two seconds ago,” Rey pointed out, somewhat irritated. “I saw nothing except the stupid look on your face.” Kylo chose to ignore this comment for now.

“I gave him a promotion, why doesn’t he love me?” Rey couldn’t hold back a snort.

“Ben, you can’t just be a complete dick to someone, and then do one nice thing for them and expect them to fall in love with you,” she said, rolling her eyes. Kylo gritted his teeth and punched the nearest wall.

“Why not ? ” he demanded, childishly.

“For a start you might want to try acting a bit more mature for once.” Kylo looked up and glared at Rey. “Aren’t you supposed to be running the whole First Order? How in the stars have you lot not fallen apart by now?”

“Shut up,” said Kylo quietly, sounding dejected.

“I have an idea,” said Rey, which  piqued Kylo’s attention. “What you really need in order for him-- or anyone, really-- to like you, is personal improvement. Isn’t that what the Dark Side is supposed to be all about? Improving yourself and your own situation?” Kylo straightened up at Rey’s words, intrigued. 

“Yes… But how do you know all this?”

“I read,” replied Rey, matter-of-factly. “And honestly… I think you were wise to officially destroy the Sith. They couldn’t see a key element to successfully using the Force to better oneself.”

“What’s that?”

“The Light.” Kylo wrinkled his nose and Rey chuckled. “While it would be great if you came over to the Light, that doesn’t seem very possible anymore. But you can embrace some aspects of the Light without crossing over.” Kylo thought about her words and came to a realization. The key to bettering oneself through use of the Force...

“Balance,” Kylo said.

“Exactly,” said Rey. “All of the turmoil and emotional tidal waves I felt from you when we met are partially from a lack of balance. There’s too much Dark and not enough Light.” Kylo pondered this as Rey continued to speak. “It’s like this… A balanced breakfast is the best meal option, right?” Kylo raised an eyebrow, not quite sure where Rey was going with this. “Hear me out,” said Rey. “You can’t have a balanced breakfast with just pancakes, no matter how much you want to. You’ve got to have things like fruits and meat as well. But you also can’t have a balanced breakfast with just bacon and fruit. You’ve got to add in things like the pancakes. You see what I mean?” Kylo nodded, still pondering.

“So, what does that mean for you?” he asked, curious. “Are you balanced? Do you have enough of the Dark inside you?” Rey thought about it for a moment.

“I’m… I’d like to think that I’m getting there. That was something both Jedi and Sith refused to acknowledge. The Jedi believed that ‘balance in the Force’ meant ‘killing all Dark Side users’ when instead it really just meant having the same amount of Force users on both sides. An equal amount in the Light as in the Dark.”

“I know,” said Kylo. “That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to get rid of both of them. My grandfather realized this, too.” Rey nodded. “So,” Kylo continued. “You think that if I become closer to the Light Side, I can become more balanced and… mature?”

“I think so,” said Rey, nodding. Kylo opened his mouth to thank her for the advice when the Force connection disappeared. Rey sat down in a nearby chair, thinking that the conversation they had just had was probably the most productive one she’d ever had with Kylo, and wondering if she should tell General Organa about it.

Kylo, meanwhile, immediately went to his meditation chambers, thinking about how he may be able to better himself as a person. Perhaps it was about time he let himself be pulled a little bit closer to the Light.

  
  


 

“Damn, that’s impressive,” Finn said as he and Rey were sitting down for another card game. “You actually managed to convince him to embrace some of the Light?” Rey nodded as she shuffled.

“I’m glad the Force allowed us to talk for so long. If there’s one good thing coming out of this whole Hux and Poe situation, perhaps it’s that I might be finally getting through to Ben.”

“But we do still have to stop it,” said Finn. “The Hux and Poe thing. It’s got to stop.”

“Yes,” replied Rey. “Which brings us to how we’re going to do it. I know Ben is trying to get General Hux to like him but honestly I don’t trust him to succeed.” She paused. “Or it might be Grand Marshal Hux now, I’m not quite sure.”

“Yeah I’m kinda skeptical too,” Finn added with a small snort.

“So it’s down to us,” Rey said. “From what I can see there are two ways we can get them to break up. One, we go the same route as Ben and get Poe to fall in love with you instead of Hux. And/or, we can go route two and try to get Poe to remember the fact that Hux is an evil war criminal.”

“Both of those plans sound great,” said Finn. “But how are we supposed to get Poe to like me?” Rey frowned.

“That’s the trouble… I thought he already did. Which is another reason why I’m confused that he’s dating Hux…”

“Wait,” Finn interceded. “You thought… he already liked me? What do you mean? How?” Rey looked at him.

“Well, he made every excuse to be with you. He still does, actually, only slightly less so. He does this casual flirting thing with you that I’ve seen other couples do with each other, and not to mention the fact that I have seen him checking out your arse more times than I can count.” Finn blushed and chewed his bottom lip.

“So… So what do we do about this?” he asked. Rey shrugged.

“I suppose we just find a way to make you even more irresistible than you already are.” She grinned and playfully punched him on the arm. Finn blushed more and smiled.

“How?” Rey looked him up and down, thinking.

“Maybe we can start with your clothes…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long to update! school has been kicking me in the ass but i've already got chapter 6 started so hopefully that'll be up soon :)  
> also, special thanks to my little brother ravenclawrabbit.tumblr.com for the balanced breakfast analogy lol


	6. All According To Keikaku

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn and Kylo put their plans into action! Both Poe and Hux are in for quite a surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again, your comments give me life huge thanks to everyone who has given nice comments on this fic <333

“Grand Marshal now, huh?” Hux swelled with pride at Poe’s utterance of his new title. He had played aloof and unaffected when Kylo had promoted him the day before but secretly he had been holding back a grin almost constantly since the event.

“Yes, effective as of yesterday,” Hux said, not holding back his smile anymore.

“Finally,” Poe said, leaning against the side of his X-Wing as he spoke into his radio. “You should’ve been promoted a while ago, if you ask me. What a jerk.” Hux chuckled.

“At least I know that  _ someone  _ acknowledges my talents,” he said, smirking slyly. “Even if it is a dirty Resistance pilot.” Poe laughed for a moment before stopping and  bit his lip anxiously. Hux noticed the abrupt silence and furrowed his brow.

“Are you alright, Poe?”

“Do you think our plan is working?” Poe asked. Hux sighed.

“I could see Finn standing behind you the whole time we were at the restaurant, and he was obviously furious,” he replied.

“Ah, crap,” said Poe, running a hand through his hair. “What if he’s just angry because his friend is dating an enemy? I’d be mad if one of my friends started dating someone in the First Order. Maybe I should have tried to go with someone Finn didn’t hate so much…” Hux frowned as Poe rambled, annoyed and offended. Was Poe not enjoying this? Hux grimaced as he remembered that he wasn’t really supposed to be enjoying this either.

“You blind dolt,” he said. “The plan is working.”

“You’re sure?” asked Poe.

“I’m sure,” replied Hux. 

“Okay…” Poe sounded relieved but still not one-hundred percent convinced. “Thanks again for doing this, Hux. And I really did have a lot of fun on our date.” Hux gave a small smile as he heard Poe’s words through the radio.

“Yes,” he said. “I had fun as we--”

“What the…” There was silence from Poe’s end for a few moments.

“What is it?” asked Hux, curious.

“I gotta go. Talk to you later, babe.” And with that, Poe hung up. Hux frowned at his radio.  _ Rude… _ Still, he was rather fond of the way Poe called him ‘babe’ even when they were speaking privately. 

 

Poe, meanwhile, had noticed Finn walking towards him, wearing a thin tank top underneath Poe’s jacket, along with  _ extremely  _ tight leather pants. Poe watched Finn, his mouth hanging slightly open.

“Hey, Poe,” Finn said as he approached, feigning confidence. “What’s up?” Poe swallowed a couple of times before answering.

“Um, not much. Uh, where’d you get the pants, buddy?” Poe tried to look anywhere but down.

“Oh, Rey’s friends with this dude Arlo in repairs, and he lent them to me.” Finn blushed. “Trying out a new look, I guess.”

“It ah, looks good,” Poe said, awkwardly. Finn’s blush deepened and he smiled. His radio beeped suddenly and he took it out of his pocket to see who was calling.

“Damn it, not now!” he exclaimed, declining the call.

“Who’s calling you?” Poe asked, bemused.

“No one,” Finn said, suspiciously quickly. Poe raised an eyebrow. “Anyways I wanted to see if you were doing anything and wanted to like, hang out today…” Finn was relieved to see that Poe was mercifully distracted by his proposal.

“Um, yeah. No , I’m not doing anything, let’s totally hang out!”

Finn grinned. “Great!”

 

“Come on, answer!” Kylo yelled at his radio, though he knew it wouldn’t make Finn pick up his damn calls. He had tried calling him three times in the last few minutes, as he really wanted some more advice, not to mention the fact that since Snoke died and Hux had barely been speaking to him, Kylo had had very little humanoid interaction and was in need of someone to talk to. He wished he could will a Force call with Rey into being but unfortunately those happened of their own accord, disregarding the will of either party. 

Kylo had been doing a lot of meditating since his conversation with Rey the other day, and he had figured out some things to work on and do in regards to Hux, but unlike Finn, he had no friends to help him pull off their plans. Very frustrated, Kylo lifted his radio into the air as though about to throw it into the opposite wall, but stopped. He needed to center himself. Breaking his radio would not do him any good, and Hux would not like having to order a new one. He set his radio down and sighed, closing his eyes. Perhaps there were some things he could do about the situation without Finn and Rey’s help for now. He opened his eyes again after a couple of minutes and fetched his datapad with the Force, quickly sending Hux a summons to his quarters. He chewed his bottom lip, nervously. The Force was telling him that this was the right thing to do, but he was still anxious. He did not like feeling vulnerable.

 

He was furiously trying to tidy up his quarters before Hux arrived , when he sensed the new Grand Marshal outside his door. Before Hux could use his override code to let himself in, Kylo ran to the door and skidded to a halt in front of it, quickly using the Force to open it. Hux stood in the doorway, hand hovering in the air next to the keypad as though about to type in the code. Kylo straightened up and tried not to look nervous as he took a step back.

“Come in,” he said, gesturing for Hux to enter. Hux wordlessly walked through the door, no doubt a bit confused as to why he had been summoned to the Supreme Leader’s quarters. He stood in the middle of the room, facing Ren, waiting for him to tell him why he was here.

Ren turned to look at Hux but quickly became too nervous to do that and so he instead started pacing.

“I’ve been meditating and thinking a lot recently,” he began. “And I… I want…” He stopped and clenched his fist, frustrated with himself for not being able to get the words out properly. “There is a barrier between us,” he said, finally, still not looking at Hux. “I want to break it down. I’ll go brick by brick if I have to.” He looked up at Hux at last, who was staring at him in confusion and apprehension. “I need you, Hux.” Hux’s breath caught in his throat. He and Ren stared at each other for quite some time before Hux broke the silence. 

“How?” he asked, quietly. Ren blinked and Hux shook his head, knowing that he needed to clarify. “How do you plan to… break down the barrier?” He had absolutely no intention of letting down any of his walls for the imbecile in front of him, but he was curious as to what Kylo’s plan was.

“Well,” Kylo began. “When I was meditating, I realized that there’s something I should have said a long time ago.” Hux tilted his head to the side a bit in inquiry and Kylo looked him in the eyes. “I’m sorry.” Hux blinked. That was not on the list of things he had expected Kylo to say. Kylo continued as Hux furrowed his brow in further confusion. “I have not been very kind to you in the past. I know that. But I also know now that my behavior was wrong. Snoke was clearly trying to pit us against each other, but that doesn’t excuse how I treated you. So… I’m sorry.”

Hux was speechless. He had never once imagined that he would ever get an apology from Kylo Ren of all people. What in the stars was he even supposed to say? He looked back into Kylo’s eyes and was struck by the sincerity in them. Did he really mean this…? Hux opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again, still unsure of what exactly to say. Finally, he settled on something simple.

“Thank you, Kylo…” he said. He immediately saw Kylo’s eyes light up at his words. Hux always marveled at how expressive the man was under that ugly mask of his. He offered Kylo a small smile, to which Kylo smiled back, a hint of color appearing on his cheeks. Hux coughed nervously and looked away. “I should go,” he stated, before turning on his heel and walking out the door, feeling confused but also somehow light and warm inside.

Kylo watched him go, feeling giddy and accomplished. And he couldn’t help but notice… Hux had called him “Kylo.”


	7. Pulling An 'Easy A' Isn't As Easy As It Seems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo Ren finds it odd that Hux has never slept with his boyfriend. Hux and Poe come up with a plan to quell these suspicions.

“You haven’t slept with him.”

It was this statement that jolted Hux out of his concentration, where he had been focusing on the beginning of some plans for a new weapon.

“Excuse me?” He looked at Kylo Ren, frankly affronted.

“You’ve only been on the one actual date,” Kylo continued, lost in his own train of thought and apparently completely unaware of his tactlessness. “And you only ever talk over the radio.” He blinked and then frowned at Hux. “Do you have radio sex?” Hux’s face was nearing the same color as his hair.

“What I do in my personal time with my significant other is none of your concern, Ren.” He glowered at the other man, feeling extremely hot and angry. He had made the mistake of allowing Kylo to get closer to him, as the man had expressed a desire to ‘break down the barrier between them’ or whatever. Besides, Hux would have more power if he was close to Kylo Ren, so really the situation benefited him as well. But alas, now he had to deal with this manchild who had apparently never learned how to gracefully communicate with other people.

“I’m just saying,” Kylo said with a shrug. “It’s weird, is all.” Hux closed his eyes and breathed through his nose, trying desperately not to start yelling at the annoyance who was currently sitting on top of his desk.

“Relationships don’t have to revolve around sex, Ren.” Kylo’s brow furrowed.

“I know that…” he said. Hux’s mind was running fast. Kylo thought it was weird that he and Poe hadn’t, well… Anyways, was he possibly catching on? Hux bit his lip anxiously. They couldn’t have that. If Kylo found out what they were actually doing, he might be even more furious at that revelation than at the fact that he thought they were dating for real.

“Get out of my office, Ren,” Hux said with a sigh.

“Why?” Kylo protested, indignantly. Hux fixed him with a hard glare.

“I’m going to call my boyfriend,” he said, straight-faced as he stared at Kylo. He almost laughed as he caught the downright pout that appeared on the Supreme Leader’s face before the man quickly covered it up with another frown.

“Fine,” Kylo said. He got off the desk and swept away, his cloak billowing behind him in such a dramatic fashion that Hux was sure he had done it on purpose. With another sigh, Hux picked up his radio. He needed to do something to drive away Kylo’s suspicions. He called Poe and didn’t have to wait long before the other man picked up. He always picked up quickly whenever Hux called, it was one of the things Hux liked about him.

“What’s up, babe?” came the familiar cocky, yet charming voice.

“We’ve got a problem,” said Hux. “The Supreme Leader seems to be getting suspicious.”

Poe shifted in his seat in his X-Wing and switched the radio to his other hand, his eyes narrowing.

“How so?” he asked.

“He…” Hux closed his eyes, trying to ready himself for Poe’s reaction. “He thinks it’s odd that we haven’t slept together.” There was silence from the other end for a few moments and Hux chewed on his lip, trying in vain to judge Poe’s reaction by the lack of sound coming from his radio. Finally, after giving the matter some thought, Poe spoke.

“Well then we’ll just have to sleep together.”

If Hux had had a drink, he would have spat it out in astonishment.

“Excuse me?” he said, completely flustered and shocked.

“No, no, I mean like,” Poe tried to cover his tracks, thankful that Hux couldn’t see how red his face was. “We’ll just have to make him  _ think  _ that we’ve slept together!” Hux frowned, confused, and Poe went on. “Hux,” he said. “I think it’s time we had another date.”

 

The first part of the date went about similarly to the first one, except instead of dinner and a holofilm on Cantonica, this time it was a stroll through some gardens, followed by a night in at a hotel on Carida. Hux and Poe walked through the gardens hand-in-hand, all the while being followed a few feet behind by Finn, Kylo Ren, and a handful of other guards from both sides.

“Are you sure about this plan?” Poe leaned over and whispered to Hux for the umpteenth time.

“Yes,” Hux hissed back, slightly irritated. “If I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t have agreed to it in the first place.”

“Just checking,” Poe replied, obviously feeling nervous.

“Listen,” said Hux. “Kylo, and I’m assuming Finn also, are going to be guarding the door of our hotel room tonight, for at least part of the night. I’m guessing it will be the earlier part. I know Kylo is insisting that he’ll guard all night but I’m betting he’ll start to get tired sooner or later.” He shook his head. “Anyways, while they’re guarding the door we’ve just got to… make some noise, that’s all. We’ll make it convincing. It ’ll be fine.” Poe nodded, seeming reassured by Hux’s words.

 

“What do you think they’re whispering about?” Kylo leaned over to mutter to Finn, who gritted his teeth.

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to know,” he replied, before shooting Kylo with a glare. “Can’t you read their minds or something?” Kylo frowned.

“Hux can tell when I do that nowadays,” he said, clearly annoyed by the development. Finn snorted.

“Damn, you’ve been going into the dude’s mind that much? No wonder he hates you.” It was Kylo’s turn to glare at Finn now.

“He doesn’t hate me anymore. I’ve  started being nice to him.” Finn rolled his eyes.

“I’m sure you have,” he said, sarcastically.

 

As they got back to the hotel, Hux and Poe tried equally hard not to seem nervous. Though, Hux speculated, if Kylo sensed some of his nervousness through the Force, he doubted the man would think it was because they were initiating a fake sex plan. Probably, he would think that Hux was nervous because he  _ was  _ going to have sex with Poe.

Poe couldn’t help but swallow hard as he noticed the icy look that Kylo Ren  gave him as they approached the door to their room. Hux was having a similar problem; he hadn’t known how menacing the ex-stormtrooper could look when he wanted to.

“You know, you don’t have to stand guard,” Hux said to Kylo before he and Poe went inside their room. “We could have the other guards we brought stand guard instead.” Kylo gritted his teeth.

“I’m staying,” he said, angrily. “I’ll be able to sense it if this scum,” he looked pointedly at Poe. “Tries to do anything funny.” Hux tried not to let a pleased smirk spread across his face as Kylo reacted exactly the way he had thought he would.

“Fine,” he conceded. “Good night, Supreme Leader.”

“Good night,” said Kylo, watching in internal agony as Hux closed the door, effectively shutting him outside, where he would be stuck with Finn for the entire night.

 

Once the door was shut, Hux turned to Poe. “What’s the plan?” he asked. “Do we start now?”

“I guess so, yeah,” Poe replied, looking around. “So what, we jump on the bed, moan loudly, that kind of stuff?” Hux blushed and wrinkled his nose at the thought of doing something so undignified but nodded.  _ For the cause, _ he thought, determinedly.

Hux took off his coat and hung it in the closet as Poe threw his jacket onto a chair, and the two of them made their way over towards the bed before taking off their boots. Hux stored his boots neatly against the wall, noticing with a raised eyebrow how Poe’s shoes seemed to now be nowhere near each other, and then stood to face Poe again. Poe hopped up onto the bed and offered a hand to Hux.

“Shall we?” he asked with a grin.

 

Kylo’s eyes narrowed as he heard movement coming from inside the room. What in the stars were they doing in there? His eyes widened when he heard a distinct moan that had definitely come from Hux. He heard it again and his cheeks grew red, his face taking on a horrified and angry expression. He turned to the side to see Finn’s face in just the same condition. Fighting back a yell of anger, Kylo stood up and turned on his lightsaber. Finn jumped up as he did this.

“What the fuck did I say about hurting him, asshole?” Finn said, glaring daggers at Kylo, who frowned back for a moment before deactivating the saber and sitting back down. Finn sat back down as well, still looking warily at the knight. He heard another moan coming from inside the room, this time from a lower, gruffer voice, and he clenched his fists. He wasn’t about to let Kylo Ren run in there  with  guns blazing, but he understood perfectly why he wanted to. Stars, he had half a mind to break down the door too, but he wouldn’t do that to Poe. Clearly, Poe was having a good time, and no matter how much Finn hated the situation, he didn’t want to ruin it. He just needed to speed up the process of getting Poe to see how evil his fascist boyfriend really was. He would make Poe see sense. He had to.

 

Hux was having quite a bit more fun than he had anticipated. Now that he thought about it, he had never actually jumped on a bed before, but he now knew why children tended to love the activity so much. He smiled at Poe, who grinned back, causing Hux’s heart to flutter in his chest. Poe let out another low fake moan, trying to hold back giddy laughter as he did so. Hux was holding back laughter as well; he didn’t know if he had ever had this much fun in his life. Nonsensical, useless, wonderful fun. Distracted and unused to this sort of physical activity, Hux suddenly lost his footing. Withholding a yelp, he tumbled down onto the bed, his leg catching one of Poe’s and bringing the other man down with him. They lay next to each other, panting, both letting out breathless laughs. Hux didn’t realize how close Poe’s face was to his until he looked the other man in the eyes.

Poe’s breath caught in his throat as Hux gazed at him, and his eyes flickered down to the Grand Marshal’s lips. They were so close… Without thinking too much about it, Poe leaned over to kiss Hux. Hux closed his eyes and kissed back, suddenly extremely grateful that Kylo Ren wasn’t in the room to interrupt them this time. Poe deepened the kiss and Hux allowed it, letting his mind sink deep into the blissful feeling of Poe’s lips and Poe’s body flush against his. He tangled his fingers in the pilot’s hair as Poe adjusted their positions so that he was on top of Hux, his tongue slipping into the other’s open and willing mouth. They made out for a few minutes before Poe moved off of Hux’s mouth and onto his neck, biting and sucking at the soft skin there. Hux moaned for real this time as he ran his hands over as much of Poe as he could reach. As Poe’s fingers slipped into the waistband of Hux’s breeches, Hux vaguely wondered if he was going to regret this tomorrow. Then he decided that, in that moment, he did not  have  a care in the galaxy.


	8. How Do Feelings Work, Again?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe and Hux wake up after a night of... you know. And now they've got to actually talk to each other about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw guys i got anon hate on tumblr for this fic i think i'm officially famous  
> (also sorry this chapter is a bit shorter than usual, I'll be sure to make chapter 9 pretty long!)
> 
> Also I should mention, I updated this in the tags but I think I'm going to make two endings for this fic, one for gingerpilot and one for stormpilot and kylux! I've been so torn on the matter for a while so I figured, why not just do it both ways?

Poe awoke to the feeling of something warm and heavy nestled up to his side. He kept his eyes closed as memories of the previous night came flooding back to him, images and feelings flitting around his head of ginger hair, warm hands, and soft lips.

Hux, meanwhile, was painfully aware that both he and the person he was cuddled up against were very naked. He wasn’t sure if Poe had woken up yet but he did not want to check. If he was asleep , then Hux’s movement might wake him up, but if he was awake , then they would probably need to talk about what happened, and neither of these options appealed to Hux at the moment.

“Are you awake?” Poe whispered.  _ Fuck _ , Hux thought. He slowly lifted his head to look at Poe, chewing on his lip nervously. “So,” Poe said, looking at Hux. “We broke the rule.” Hux furrowed his brow.

“What rule?” he asked.

“The rule that this is all supposed to be fake.”

“Ah, that rule.” Poe laid his head back on the pillow and sighed.

“Fuck, Hugs. What am I going to do with you?” Hux wrinkled his nose at the nickname and laid back down in his position against Poe’s warm chest.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“I instigated it, Hux,” Poe reminded him. “Dammit…” He cursed under his breath. “I don’t know if I can do this fake dating thing anymore…” Hux felt his heart sink a little in his chest. He should have known after last night that he had fucked it up. Poe continued while Hux wallowed in negativity. “Because I think I’m falling for you.” Hux’s eyes widened and his heart sped up. He truly had no idea how to take this information, or what he was going to do about it.

Poe stared up at the ceiling, his heart pounding, mentally punching himself for admitting the fact that he had been falling for the Grand Marshal.

“What… What about Finn?” came Hux’s quiet voice. 

“I still like him… A lot… But now I’ve got you, and I didn’t know how good it would feel.”

“The sex?” Hux asked.

“No,” said Poe. “Just… you in general.” Hux felt his cheeks redden at this statement.

“So,” said Hux, his voice still very quiet. “What do we do now?”

“That depends,” said Poe.

“On what?”

“On you. What do you want to do?” Poe asked. 

“What do you mean?” Hux questioned him, a bit confused by Poe’s inquiry.

“I guess what I’m asking is… Do you feel the same way?” Hux was not prepared for this question, or this entire conversation, for that matter. He sat up, not looking at Poe. Poe watched as Hux got out of the bed and started gathering up his things.

“I should go,” Hux said, still refusing to look at Poe. “Ren is probably forcing himself to not break down the door as we speak.”

 

In Kylo’s dream that he had been having, he had indeed broken down the door and slashed that stupid smug smile off of Poe’s face with his lightsaber before pinning Hux to the wall and kissing the stars out of him. He was unfortunately jolted awake from this satisfying dream by the sound of the door opening and then closing again. Hux clearly looked to have left the room in a hurry, as his clothes were wrinkled in some places and his hair was not quite as neat as it usually was, indicating that Hux had combed it quickly. 

Beside Kylo, Finn stretched and yawned in his chair before opening his eyes.

“Where’s Poe?” he asked immediately upon seeing Hux. Hux gave him a look that Finn couldn’t quite place, but for once it wasn’t arrogance or anger.

“Still in the room,” Hux replied before turning to Kylo Ren. “I’m ready to leave whenever you are.” Kylo immediately jumped to his feet. He gave Finn a curt nod before striding away, Hux trailing behind him, still with that sad and yet sort of confused look on his face. Finn narrowed his eyes, trying to decipher what that look might mean.

Kylo looked at Hux as they walked, and he couldn’t help but be a little bit pleased that Hux did not seem happy at whatever had transpired between him and Poe.

“That bad, huh?” he asked, smirking.

“Shut up,” Hux replied, but his voice did not have its usual venom in it. Instead it was flat and dry and… sad. Kylo’s heart immediately sank and he suddenly felt bad for feeling such joy at Hux’s clear pain. This was supposed to be Hux’s walk of shame and yet Kylo was now the one feeling shameful.

 

Finn knocked on the door of the hotel room. “Poe?” he called. “It’s Finn.” 

“I’ll be right there.” Finn heard Poe’s muffled voice from inside. He heard some shuffling, probably Poe getting dressed, Finn thought, before the door opened. Poe held the door for Finn as he walked in. Finn wrinkled his nose at the smell of sex that plagued the air. He looked at Poe to see more or less the same expression on his face that he had seen on Hux only a minute prior.

“You okay?” he asked. He noticed that Poe still did not have a shirt on but he forbade himself from admiring the view for the time being. Poe sat down on the bed as Finn sat down on the chair near the desk. 

“I…” Poe began but he trailed off, trying to find the words to properly articulate his feelings. “I’ll be okay,” he settled with.

“What happened?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” Poe replied, looking out the window. He needed to stop thinking about Hux, but he couldn’t. Even with Finn right in front of him, Hux still occupied most of his thoughts. But Hux had rejected him. After last night, that wonderful, exhilarating night, he should have known that he had fucked it up. He had developed real feelings for a fake relationship, and now he had to face the consequences.


	9. A Reversal Of Roles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe and Hux are dealing with their emotions in the aftermath of Hux's flight from Carida, and Finn and Kylo each make a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> your comments on this fic never fail to keep me going i love all you guys so much

“Poe… Poe, you’ve been doing nothing but cleaning that ship for the past hour.” Poe didn’t turn around to acknowledge Finn’s presence, continuing to wipe his wet rag down the side of his X-Wing. He scrubbed at a stubborn bit of dirt on the side of the ship as though scrubbing if off would also scrub Hux out of his thoughts.

“Poe, come on,” Finn said, adamantly. “You’ve barely talked to anyone since we left Carida yesterday. You can talk to me.” Poe’s hand stilled and he closed his eyes with a sigh before opening them again and turning around to face Finn.

“I’m trying to concentrate,” he said.

“Clearly,” Finn replied with a snort. “Come on, it’s about time for lunch. You gotta eat something.” Reluctantly, Poe stepped off of his stool and put his rag back in the bucket resting next to the X-Wing. As they walked to the mess hall, Finn looked worriedly at Poe. “What happened back there? With Hux?” Poe opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again with a shake of his head. What in the stars was he going to tell Finn? He could no longer get away with simply telling him nothing.

“I’ll tell you when we sit down,” he said, thinking that this way he could come up with a story while they walked.

As they got to the mess hall, grabbed some food, and went over to a table in the corner, Poe decided to go with something like a half-lie.

“So what happened?” Finn asked again. Poe looked at him with a small sigh through his nose.

“Well… You know we were boyfriends and everything, but it wasn’t like, all that serious. Or at least, I guess it wasn’t that serious for him. Y’know, we liked each other and all that but I dunno… I’m an idiot who felt something deeper.” Finn frowned as Poe talked, trying to shove down his own feelings of sadness and jealousy. “And after our night together--” Finn nearly cringed at this phrase. “--I, well, I told him how I  felt . And… He left.” Finn’s jaw dropped in utter offense. He couldn’t stand the completely crushed look on Poe’s face and he just wanted to bash that Grand Marshal dickhead’s face in for making Poe feel this way.

An evil thought began to trickle into Finn’s mind. Hux had made Poe feel awful. And sure, Poe had feelings for the First Order asshole, but this was when those feelings would probably be most easily swayed. Finn could turn the tide in his favor with just a few words.

“I should have known this was going to happen,” Finn said with a grave expression. “That guy can’t have those kinds of emotions.” He paused a bit, looking at Poe. “You remember the Hosnian System…” Poe looked away from Finn, refusing to meet his eyes. Finn leaned closer. “You remember the Hosnian System… right?”

“I remember the Hosnian System,” Poe said quietly, still not looking Finn in the eye.

“Someone who could do something as evil as that could never love. He’s more of a monster than a man anyways.” Poe heard Finn’s words, but he couldn’t stop his mind from going to images of Hux, grinning as they jumped up and down on the bed. Hux, the way he blushed when Poe pulled his glove off on their first date. Hux, the way his voice sounded when he laughed. But then… Hux, calling him and his friends “rebel scum.” Hux, slapping Finn across the face. Hux… giving the order to wipe out an entire system of planets, killing billions of innocent people. Stars, Finn had a point.

Finn could tell his words were having an effect on Poe by the heavy silence that was plaguing the air. His stomach twisted in guilt at manipulating his friend, but really, this was for Poe’s own good, in the end.

“You’re better off without him, Poe,” Finn said, reaching across the table to put a comforting hand on Poe’s arm. Poe responded by lifting up his other hand and putting it on top of Finn’s, showing him that he understood.

 

“Why am I here, Ren?” Hux had been on the bridge not minutes prior, staring out into the vastness of space and counting the stars in an attempt to distract himself from memories of Poe. His heart clenched at the very thought of the pilot and what he must think of him after Hux had left the previous morning. Were they even still dating? Hux needed to remind himself that technically they were never dating in the first place.

Suddenly he had gotten a notification on his datapad that he was being called to the Supreme Leader’s office. Yes, Ren had an  _ office  _ now and it was unfortunately placed right next to Hux’s, which meant that Ren was always barging in to talk to Hux about something or other. Now, however, Hux was on Ren’s turf.

“You’ve been off since we left Carida,” Ren said, looking up at Hux from where he sat behind his desk. “I can feel it coming off of you in waves.” Hux wrinkled his nose at Ren’s talk of that Force nonsense again.

“What, are you reading my aura?” he asked, defensively.

“It’s not reading,” Ren said. “It’s feeling. And you’ve been feeling confused and upset since yesterday. So confused and upset, in fact, that it’s polluting the air around you and making me suffer as well. So, spill.” Hux blinked.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Spill. Tell me what’s wrong.” Ren gestured to the chair in front of his desk. “What in the stars did that asshole pilot do?” Hux looked incredulously from Ren to the chair he was gesturing to.

“You want me to tell you about my problems?” he asked, sarcastically.

“Well, I am your friend,” said Ren.

“My friend?” Hux raised his eyebrows at Ren, who shifted awkwardly in his chair before nodding. Hux noticed that he looked rather hopeful. 

“I told you, Hux. I want to break down the barrier between us.”

“I didn’t know that would translate into wanting to be my friend.” Hux sighed at the look Ren gave him-- rather like a kicked porg, Hux thought-- and sat down. Ren’s face immediately lit up and he sat up straighter in his chair.

“So we are friends?” he asked, barely trying to hide his hopefulness at this point. Hux frowned at him.

“You really want to be my friend that badly?” he asked.

“Well I figure it’s wise to be closer to my Grand Marshal.” Hux rolled his eyes. After a moment’s silence in which Ren looked hopefully at him and Hux looked irritably at the floor, Hux spoke.

“Fine,” he said. Ren positively grinned. Hux actually felt himself smile a bit at Ren’s clear glee, much to his surprise. The man was annoying, but he had gotten much, much better towards Hux recently. Hux couldn’t help but wonder what had spurred him to change his attitude.

“So what happened between you and that Resistance scum?” Kylo asked. “Maybe I can help.”  _ By cutting him open with my lightsaber, perhaps,  _ Kylo thought.

Hux thought carefully on how to word this story without clueing Kylo in on the fact that they had only been pretending to be dating.

“Well we’ve been dating for a little while and it’s nothing really serious but I…” He chewed on his lip nervously. Kylo nodded in encouragement. “I seemed to have caught more… feelings than I was anticipating.” Hux shifted uncomfortably as he admitted something to Ren that he had only barely admitted to himself. “I cared for Poe more deeply than he cared for me--” Kylo frowned at this. That was not what he wanted to hear, but he let Hux continue. “-- Or so I thought. That night on Carida, things got a bit out of hand. We went a bit farther than we meant to. I’m not the… best at emotions, you see. And the next morning, Poe told me… He told me he had been falling for me. And I didn’t really know what to do with that information, so I just… left.” Kylo listened to what Hux was saying with mixed feelings.

On the one hand, he was bitter that Hux had developed such feelings, furious at Poe for simply existing, and triumphant that their relationship seemed to be very strained at the moment. But on the other hand he was looking at the expression on Hux’s face and he was feeling the negative emotions that were coming off of the man through the Force. He clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to decide what to do. He could very well use this situation to his advantage and pull Hux closer to him and away from Poe. But a small voice in his head (that sounded rather annoying, female, and Jedi) was reminding him that in order for Hux to fall for him, he had to be nice. And a deeper feeling was telling him that even if it meant that Hux definitely  _ wouldn’t _ fall for him, if he actually cared about  Hux he should do what’s best for him, regardless of what it would mean for himself.

Going against everything he had learned for years, Kylo stood up.

“Follow me,” he said as he walked over to the door. Hux, bewildered, stood up as well and followed Kylo out of his office and into Hux’s own office next door. Kylo went over to pick up the radio lying on the desk. With a pained look in his eyes, he handed Hux the radio.

“Call your boyfriend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so sorry the next chapter is coming so slowly, I just started a new job and finals are coming up so everything is kind of crazy right now. But I will be posting the next chapter on May 7th in honor of day 3 of Gingerpilot week, themed "secret/fake relationships"!!!  
> We're getting close to the end guys!


	10. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux and Poe have a long overdue conversation about important things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long, I started a second job and I'm studying for finals right now T_T but we're getting close to the end so that's exciting! I'm anticipating one more chapter before I branch off into the two endings.
> 
> ALSO this chapter is brought to you by Day 3 of Gingerpilot Week - themed Pretend Dating!

Poe picked up right away when Hux called, as per usual. It was one of the many things Hux liked about the man. There was silence between the two of them for a moment, before they both spoke at the same time.

“Hux--”

“I’m sorry.” Poe’s words died in his throat at Hux’s apology. Silence fell again and Hux continued. “I shouldn’t have left, on Carida,” he said. Poe got the feeling that Hux was having a hard time trying to find the right words to express what he was feeling. “When you said… that, I suppose I panicked a bit. I admit I’m not the best at dealing with emotions of any sort, I never have been.” Hux cleared his throat, realizing that he was beginning to ramble. “That is… What I mean to say is…” 

Poe listened intently as Hux spoke. He had so many conflicting feelings at hearing Hux’s voice. It had only been a day since he had heard from him and yet he had missed hearing that voice so much. But he couldn’t stop thinking about what Finn had said.  _ A man like that could never love-- _

“I love you.” Hux abruptly closed his mouth, immediately regretting his choice of words. True though they may be, he hadn’t meant to actually  _ say it out loud.  _ And now Poe was silent again. Hux closed his eyes, thinking that he had now royally messed up. Finally, Poe’s voice came out of the radio.

“Hux…” he said, softly. “Did you know I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you constantly since our first date?” Hux’s eyes opened slowly, a hint of a blush appearing on his cheeks. He was silent as Poe continued. “I meant what I said… On Carida… I’ve been falling for you for a while now…” There was a pregnant pause while Hux tried to figure out how to respond.

“That’s…” He cleared his throat again. “That’s good.” Poe snorted at Hux’s “eloquent” wording. Now there was the Hux he knew. Always trying to be  prim and proper, and yet awkward and even bashful when it comes to anything regarding romance. His smile became a frown again, however, as Finn’s words came back to him.  _ You remember the Hosnian System… right? _

“But,” he said. Hux clenched his teeth.  _ Oh no, _ he thought. “I’ve been thinking recently… Some of the things you’ve done… Hux, I don’t know if I can forgive that.” Hux frowned. He should have known they were going to run into their clashing ideals sooner or later.

“We’re at war,” he said, defensively. “Sometimes extreme actions are necessary. I know you don’t see it like this, but the New Republic was corrupt and dangerous and--”

“Was murdering a ton of innocent people really necessary?” Hux fell silent for a few moments.

“It was an act of war,” he said, finally. “And don’t pretend like the Resistance hasn’t killed civilians. You know as well as I do that it’s nigh unavoidable when it comes to a war of this scale.”

“We’ve never wiped out an entire system,” Poe said, gravely. Hux frowned. He really did not want to have this conversation with Poe, and in fact had been trying to avoid it ever since they first became friends. 

“It was necessary to snuff out the New Republic and to send a message to the galaxy by making an example. In order to win, we need to be feared.”

“Well I think that in order to win, you need to be loved.” And there it was. The pinnacle of the conflicting ideals between the Resistance and the First Order; of the Light Side and the Dark. “That’s why I believe in the Resistance,” Poe explained, softly. “I believe in us because the galaxy believes in us.”

“Then where were your ‘believers’ on Crait?” Hux’s voice was quiet, but harsh. It was a low blow and Hux regretted saying it almost as soon as he had said it but he knew that not even Poe could deny that it was the truth. Hux knew full well that the battle surrounding Crait had hurt the Resistance much more than it had hurt the First Order ,  even if the Supreme Leader’s ego was severely damaged in the crossfire . H e knew that the Resistance had called for help, and he knew that nobody across the whole galaxy had come to their aid. There was silence between them once more, but this time the air was thick with hostility. Then suddenly, the line went dead. Hux blinked and looked at his radio. He felt a sharp pang in his heart as he realized that Poe had hung up on him. He was reminded a bit of their first few conversations, in which Hux had slammed the radio down after a few minutes of talking every time.

Hux was reminiscing the days when he and Poe would simply have p l ayful banter over the radio, and wallowing in the fact that Poe would probably never talk to him again, when the door to his office suddenly slid open.

“Are you okay? What happened? I felt you through the Force--” It was Kylo Ren. Of course. Hux looked at him incredulously.

“What, have you been sitting and listening outside the door this whole time?” he asked.

“No,” said Kylo, defensively. “I was in my office. So I couldn’t really hear what you were saying, I could just--”

“You could feel me through the Force,” Hux guessed. Kylo nodded. 

“Are you okay?” he repeated. Hux was brought back from the momentary distraction and fell silent once more, still thinking about what he had said to Poe. 

“I don’t think I can fix this…” he was starting to say to Kylo, but then his radio began to beep. Hux stared at it. Was Poe calling him? Kylo looked between Hux and the radio in curiosity. Slowly, Hux picked up the radio and answered the call. After a moment or two he heard Poe’s voice on the other end.

“... I regretted hanging up as soon as I hung up,” Poe said, quietly. Hux’s heart lifted a bit in relief that  maybe  Poe didn’t hate him forever. He glanced over at Kylo, who was staring at him intensely, and waved a hand to shoo him out of the room. Reluctantly, Kylo slunk out the door, presumably to go back to his own office and eavesdrop via the Force. 

“Poe, I’m sorry.” Hux felt like he was doing a lot of apologizing lately. “I shouldn’t have said--”

“You weren’t wrong,” Poe admitted. 

“That doesn’t mean it was right of me to say it, though. I’m sorry.”

“Did you mean what you said?” Poe asked. “Do you… love me?”

“Yes,” Hux said, after a moment’s hesitation. There was no point in denying it now; he had already said it.

“I can’t forgive you,” Poe said. Hux’s heart sank. “But dammit… I love you, Hux.” Hux’s heart lifted once more in hope.

“If…” Hux began. “If it makes you feel any better, I loathe the Resistance, but I love you.” Poe laughed.

“Why would that make me feel better?” Hux chuckled as well.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “So what are we… now?” Hux asked, hesitantly.

“Well,” Poe said, thoughtfully. “I guess… would you want to try dating for real?”

“Even though you can’t forgive me?”

“Like I said, I can’t forgive you, but I do love you.” Hux smiled.

“Alright,” he said, breathlessly. He felt strangely giddy. “I want to see you again, Poe. I know it hasn’t been long since we last saw each other, but--”

“I want to see you, too.”

“Another date, then?”

“Yeah, that sounds great.” 

“For real, this time.”

“Yeah, for real.” In different parts of the galaxy, the two men smiled. 

“I’ll figure out a decent place and send you the information, shall I?” Hux asked. “Any ideas?”

“I could take you for a ride,” Poe suggested with a sly smile. “You know I’m an awesome pilot.”

“An X-Wing seems a bit cramped,” Hux said, uncertain.

“We’ve got an Xi-class light shuttle,” Poe said. “Might be a little more familiar to you. I know the First Order has used those in the past. I’m pretty sure that’s where we got ours, actually. Though…” He grinned. “I wouldn’t mind being in a cramped space with you.”

“Oh, stop,” Hux said, playfully, his cheeks turning red. “An Xi-class light shuttle sounds lovely.”

“Ah, shit,” Poe said. “I gotta go. General Organa called a meeting and it starts in ten minutes, I should probably get over there.”

“Do tell me how your meeting goes, won’t you, darling?” Hux asked, innocently.

“No can do, babe,” Poe said with a grin. “That’s Resistance secrets!” Hux chuckled. 

“Alright, well, have fun,” he said.

“Okay, love you, bye!”

“Love you, too.” When Poe hung up this time, Hux felt anything but pain in his heart. He heard the door slide open once more.

“So… how’d it go?” Kylo asked, hesitantly. And to his surprise, Hux turned to him and gave him a warm smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyy I'm super sorry for the long wait. I had to deal with finals and then I had the biggest convention of the year to go to, and I've actually been trying to be social for once! lol   
> But I'm working on the next chapter! We're almost done! I think there should be about one more chapter before I split off into the two endings :)


	11. Turbulence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe and Hux go on their first date since becoming a real couple instead of a fake one! But what lies in store for them... (Meanwhile, Kylo Ren gets put in the "friendzone")

“I’ll be fine, Kylo. You don’t have to go with me this time. He’s not bringing any extra Resistance members either, not even Finn.” Hux sighed at the downright pout that now adorned Kylo’s face.

“I don’t want to leave you alone with him. He’s Resistance.”

“I was alone with him for a whole night and I was fine.”

“Yeah, with me guarding the door.” Kylo crossed his arms, looking pointedly at Hux.

“You can accompany me to the rendezvous point, and if you want , you can wait there until my return. But you will not be going on the shuttle with us. Okay?” Kylo gritted his teeth.

“Fine,” he conceded. Hux nodded.

“Good.” Hux tapped at his desk, thinking,  with Kylo Ren  standing opposite him. As Kylo turned to leave Hux’s office, Hux called him back. “Wait, Kylo.” Kylo turned back towards Hux.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I… I never said… Thank you, for making me call him.” Hux looked up at Kylo, who looked back at him with a look that showed fondness, yet at the same time, sadness. “I am actually… quite glad we became, well, friends.” 

“I’m glad, too,” Kylo said with a small nod. Part of him was regretting his decision to help Hux fix things with Poe, but Hux seemed so happy because of it… “I should go look over those reports you sent me,” Kylo said after a moment. Hux blinked.

“You haven’t looked at them yet? I sent them a few days ago.”

“I’ve been busy!” He had, in fact, been procrastinating. Hux sighed once more in exasperation. 

“Well I won’t keep you from your work,” he said, waving a hand to signify that Kylo should leave. Kylo nodded and left, and Hux mused over the fact that he seemed to have some odd sort of power over the so-called “Supreme Leader.” Though, he could hardly think of a reason as to why Kylo Ren would choose to follow his orders. Perhaps the man had finally realized that Hux was much better suited to lead the First Order to victory. Hux shook his head. That thought wasn’t very likely. He supposed he would just have to find out somehow eventually.

 

As the First Order’s shuttle descended upon the moon that Hux and Poe were using as a rendezvous point for their date, Kylo noticed what kind of ship the two would be having their date in.

“That’s an Xi-class light shuttle,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “Isn’t that one of ours?”

“It… is,” said Hux, apprehensively. “According to Poe, the Resistance stole it quite a while ago. He said he thought it would make me feel more at home.”

“How thoughtful,” Kylo muttered, sarcastically. 

“Hey,” Hux turned to Kylo as their shuttle landed. “I know you don’t like Poe, or this situation, so… Thank you for being here and not being , well…” Hux trailed off, trying to find the right words.

“Not being how I used to be?” Kylo offered. He and Hux both remembered how he used to slash up rooms with his lightsaber whenever something didn’t go his way. Hux chuckled and put a hand on Kylo’s arm.

“Thank you, Kylo.” Kylo looked at Hux’s hand on his arm before looking back up at the man in front of him. He put his hand on top of Hux’s and smiled.

The shuttle doors opened and Hux stepped away from Kylo , and walked towards the ramp leading outside. 

Waiting for Hux when he got outside was Poe, standing a bit of a ways off, next to the Xi-class light shuttle. A little wa y s behind him, next to another Resistance shuttle, was Finn, along with a handful of Resistance members. Hux, with Kylo trailing a ways behind him, walked towards Poe with his hands behind his back, fidgeting nervously with his gloves. This was their first real, actual date  since they started dating for real .

As Hux approached, Poe smiled and walked forward to meet him. Hux stopped in front of Poe and stood awkwardly, but Poe just grinned and put his arms around Hux, enveloping him in a tight hug.

“There’s my General Hugs,” Poe said. He pulled back to look at Hux. “And kisses,” he added, before leaning in to kiss Hux. Hux, holding back a chuckle, kissed back lovingly. After a moment or two, he pulled away.

“You’re an idiot,” he muttered, smirking.

“You love it,” Poe replied. He stepped away from Hux and towards their shuttle before holding out his hand. “Shall we?” Hux took his hand, suddenly reminded of when they had jumped on the bed in Carida, and smiled.

“And I’m a Grand Marshal now, remember?” he said. “Not a General.”

“Yeah, yeah. Come on.” Poe led Hux into the shuttle. Before the door closed behind them, Hux shot a small smile back towards Kylo Ren, who gave him a weak smile in return. 

When the door shut all the way, Hux suddenly found himself pinned to the wall. Poe kissed him passionately and Hux wrapped his arms around the pilot, kissing back with just as much fire.

“I haven’t gotten the chance to say it in person yet,” said Poe, breaking the kiss. “I love you, Hux.”

“I love you, too,” Hux replied with a smile. He felt light and giddy. Poe got off of him and led him into the cockpit, grinning. 

“Now it’s time to show you what I can do,” he said. Hux raised an eyebrow as he got into the copilot’s seat. 

“Take it away then, I suppose,” he said. Poe lifted the shuttle into the air and shot into the sky. Hux sat back and smiled as the shuttle zipped through space.

“Wanna see some cool flying moves?” Poe asked.

“Go for it,” Hux said with a gesture of his hand. 

“I’ll try spinning,” said Poe. “That’s a neat trick!” Hux’s eyes widened and he gripped his seat, thankful that he had strapped himself in tightly as the shuttle whirled  through the air. 

After a while of flying and mid-space tricks, Poe slowed the shuttle and put it on autopilot before turning to Hux with a smile.

“Thanks for letting me take you for a ride,” Poe said, putting a hand on Hux’s knee. Hux rested his hand on top of Poe’s and smiled back. 

“Your flying is truly something. The Resistance is lucky to have a pilot such as yourself.”

“The First Order only wishes they could be this good, is that right?”

“I suppose that’s right,” Hux said with a chuckle. Poe stood up and took Hux’s hand to pull him up as well. He wrapped an arm around Hux’s waist and pulled him in for another kiss. Hux kissed back, one of his hands coming up to tangle in Poe’s wavy locks. Hux opened his mouth and slipped his tongue into Poe’s. Poe let out a soft noise, running his hands up and down Hux’s back. Poe was just reaching up to undo one of the clasps of Hux’s uniform when suddenly the ship went dark and the emergency lights came on. They pulled apart and looked around, confused. They looked at each other and Hux saw the utterly bewildered look on Poe’s face through the dark red lighting. Poe started examining the controls while Hux looked around through the viewport.

“Someone’s locked onto us,” Poe said, his voice dry. He looked up at Hux, his countenance suddenly holding suspicion. “Hux, you didn’t… Is it the Order?”

“I would never!” Hux said, offended but also scared. Had Ren’s kindness and understanding all been a trick? Had he, in fact, called the  First  Order to capture Poe? Hux’s insides squirmed with dread as he considered this. He was hurt that Kylo would do this. He had thought they were becoming close… “If it’s Kylo, I’ll talk to him. You’re not going through any more torture at the hands of the Order, I promise.” He took Poe’s hand and squeezed it. Poe nodded solemnly at him.

Knowing that they wouldn’t be able to avoid whoever was bringing them in while they were in such a small shuttle, Poe and Hux made their way to the exit to meet their captors. Hux straightened up as he felt their shuttle land, preparing to bark orders  at whoever opened the door to not harm Poe. Poe stood a bit behind Hux, watching the door warily. 

The door opened, and the two stared in shock at who was waiting for them. 

“Take them,” said General Organa. Her voice  was  as stern as her face , as Resistance members stormed in and quickly apprehended Hux. Hux struggled against his captors and looked back at Poe, feeling betrayed. 

“Poe,” he said, his voice betraying despair. Poe looked at him desperately.

“Hux, I didn’t! I swear!” Poe’s words were proven  when he was apprehended as well by a few more Resistance fighters. Hux tried to break free from his captors but his hands were bound behind his back. Poe was struggling as well, trying to get to Hux, but his captors had anticipated this and were successfully keeping the two apart. “Hux, I’m sorry!” Poe yelled as they were dragged off of the ship. Hux gritted his teeth and hung his head, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to come up with some kind of plan. He opened them again as he was shoved forward and almost tripped. His eyes stung as he came to terms with his shocking reality: he was captured.

 

“Sir, a large ship just appeared from hyperspace and brought in the Grand Marshal’s shuttle.” Kylo heard the lieutenant’s words and whipped his head around to look at Finn, who was staring at the lieutenant in shock.

“What?” Finn said, bewildered. 

“What did you do, you traitorous scum?” Kylo roared at Finn, who backed up quickly.

“I didn’t do anything!” Finn protested. Kylo yelled in fury and ran back to his shuttle. 

“Call the fleet here!” he ordered to nobody in particular. “Now!” He was satisfied when he heard a “yes, sir” coming from somewhere, though he had no idea where, and he didn’t care. He was so stupid. He should have gone with Hux on the shuttle. That bastard, that  _ scum _ Poe Dameron had gotten Hux captured. Kylo Ren ignited his lightsaber and immediately several nearby crewmembers took a few steps back. As the First Order’s fleet materialized in the sky from out of hyperspace, Kylo turned towards a trembling officer. “Have someone prepare a small ship,” he said, menacingly. “I’m going to rescue him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the two endings next which means we're almost done!!!  
> This means that I'll take a bit longer to update than usual because I want to post both endings at the same time.  
> Thanks for sticking with me, guys!


	12. Captured Heart, Captured Body

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe and Hux each get visitors to the cells where they are being held captive. Meanwhile, Kylo formulates a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I know I said I'd make the two endings next but when I started writing them I realized that there was some stuff that I wanted to be in both chapters, so I just made it into its own chapter. The endings are coming soon! I promise!   
> And thank everyone again for commenting!!!! You guys give me life! And special thanks to TheZ1337 for being an amazing beta!

Poe screamed in fury and banged his fists against the wall of his cell. It was all his fault. Hux was captured and might even be executed and it was all because of him. He should have known that dating him would be too dangerous while they were on opposite sides of a war. How could he have been so stupid? And now he was stuck here, unable to do anything because his fellow Resistance members didn’t trust him enough to let him out of captivity. Obviously, they thought that Poe would try to rescue Hux. They were right, of course, but that didn’t make Poe any happier about it.

The door to Poe’s cell opened and Rey stepped in. Poe looked up and  an expression  of desperate hope adorned his face.

“Rey!” he croaked out, his voice hoarse from yelling and crying. “Rey, you gotta help me. Get Hux out of here, they’re gonna kill him!” Rey said nothing and simply looked at Poe, her countenance expressing pity and disappointment. “Rey…” Poe said, trying to understand why she wasn’t immediately jumping  in like always  to be the hero.

“I’m sorry, Poe,” she said, finally. A look of understanding dawned on Poe’s face.

“It was you,” he said, disbelievingly. “You told General Organa about our date. You… you told her to capture him.” Poe’s voice broke as he spoke. Rey was still giving him that infuriating look of pity.

“It had to be done, Poe,” she said. “He’s a war criminal. He has to be brought to justice.”

“I love him!”

“The Resistance is bigger than just you, Poe. Think of all the people he’s hurt. The people he’s killed.” Poe saw her point but he didn’t want to. He physically looked away so he wouldn’t have to see Rey’s face. “He’s not dead yet, just so you know,” Rey said. Poe was relieved to hear this news, but still looked away. “For now he’s just imprisoned, like you are. You could be let out, you know. If General Organa decides that you won’t be a danger to the Resistance.”

“Part of the ideals of the Resistance,” Poe said, quietly. “Isn’t fighting what we hate. It’s saving what we love.” Rey sighed as she looked at Poe, who had sunk to his knees. “I just… I don’t want him to die… And it’s gonna be my fault…” He sucked in a shaky breath as a tear rolled down his cheek.

“Grand Marshal Hux is one of the most dangerous men in the galaxy. In order for peace to be brought to the galaxy, both he and Kylo Ren need to be brought to justice.” Poe said nothing, merely sniffled, still kneeling on the floor. Rey sighed and turned to leave. Before she left, however, she turned back once more. “Oh, and I thought you should know… Finn had nothing to do with the capture. He didn’t even know about the plan. Otherwise, he probably would have tried to stop it. He really cares about you, you know…” Poe didn’t respond as Rey left his cell.

 

* * *

 

 

“We need to infiltrate that Resistance ship.” Kylo Ren banged his fist on the wall next to him, causing  several nearby petty officers to jump. “But we need to get past their shields somehow. We need someone who can get us onto that damn ship.” Kylo paused and straightened up when he heard a commotion coming from the entrance  of the shuttle, which was still parked on the rendezvous point from which Poe and Hux had taken off.

“Let me in, I want to help! No, don’t shoot! I just want to help!” It was Finn’s voice. Kylo turned towards the entrance.

“Let him in,” he ordered. The two stormtroopers guarding the entrance reluctantly moved to the side to allow Finn entry. Huffing angrily, Finn strode in, looking clearly nervous about being back aboard a First Order ship. 

“Look,” he said, walking towards Kylo, who was looking accusingly at him. “I didn’t know they were going to capture Hux, I swear. I want to help you free him. Poe would be devastated if Hux were killed.” He stopped in front of Ren and frowned. “I don’t think I could bear seeing Poe that hurt.”

“But it was Poe that ordered the capture, was it not?” Ren asked, raising an eyebrow. Finn shook his head.

“It wasn’t. He would never do that. I don’t know who it was. But they probably captured Poe too, otherwise he would definitely be trying to break Hux out.” Kylo narrowed his eyes at Finn and stepped closer to him.

“You can get us onto that ship?” he asked. Finn nodded.

“I can.” At that moment, the shuttle doors opened again. Kylo turned around.  _ Good,  _ he thought.  _ My backup has arrived. _

Finn looked up at the entrance and immediately took a few steps back, his face contorted with fear and rage. Captain Phasma raised her blaster to point at Finn, her chrome helmet betraying no emotion, as always.

“Sir,” she said to Kylo. “Permission to kill this traitor?”

“Permission  _ not  _ granted. I’m  going to  need both of your help in this. Finn will get us in, I’ll get Hux out, and Phasma, you’ll cover me and take care of anyone in your way. Got it?”

“No fatalities,” said Finn. Kylo and Phasma both looked at him, Kylo’s face clearly showing his incredulity. Finn looked around at both of them. “If you kill any of the Resistance trying to get your Grand Marshal back, I’m not gonna help you. I want Poe to be happy but not at the cost of someone’s life.” Kylo scowled at Finn.

“Fine,” he conceded. “No fatalities. We aim to maim or knock out only.”

“Forgive me, sir,” said Phasma. “But then what is the point?”

“The point is to get Hux out alive. Nothing else matters.” If Phasma had not been wearing a helmet, the others would have seen her raise an eyebrow at Ren’s statement.

 

* * *

 

Hux was sitting on the bed in his cell, his hands in his lap, his posture straight. Just because he was a prisoner of war did not mean that he should act undignified, despite having been captured in such an undignified manner. He had gone and fallen in love with the enemy, and that love had blindsided him to the dangers that it posed. He could not believe that he had been stupid enough to allow himself to become captured, and now he was probably going to be killed. Still, he could not bring himself to regret all of his moments with Poe. From how much Poe was struggling when they had been captured, it looked like the pilot had nothing to do with the situation. This knowledge provided Hux with a small comfort as he sat in his cell, waiting for someone to come in and reveal his fate.

The cell door slid open and General Organa walked in. Hux looked up at her and pursed his lips.

“General,” he said, curtly.

“General,” she replied.

“Grand Marshal. . ” Hux muttered.

“What was that?”

“The Supreme Leader of the First Order, and Master of the Knights of Ren, granted me title of Grand Marshal and I would appreciate you to address me as such," he said, more clearly.

“Of course.” General Organa sat down on the chair across from Hux’s bed and looked at him. Her eyes held pity, but also curiosity. Hux looked back at her, challengingly. “There’s something about you, Hux,” she said. Hux’s brow furrowed as he wondered what she meant. “Somehow, it seems you’ve gotten both of my boys to fall for you.” Hux blinked, taken aback. She was talking about Poe, and… and her son, Kylo Ren. 

“I don’t know about both of them,” Hux said, his cheeks coloring, momentarily forgetting his situation.

“I know how Ben feels for you, Grand Marshal. If it was so obvious to me, only being able to feel bits and pieces of him, forgive me but I thought it would be more obvious to you, too.” She sighed as Hux mulled over her words. “And I’m sorry that I’m going to have to force you to break both of their hearts.” Hux made a small  _ tch  _ sound and Organa continued. “I’m just glad he ended up having someone he actually cared about, for however short amount of time it was.”

“He’s my friend,” Hux said. “If you let me go, I can take care of him for you. Especially if what you say is true. If he… feels that way. For me. If you let me go…” Organa fixed Hux with a bemused smile.

“Do I honestly look that stupid to you?” Hux shot her back a wry smile.

“It was worth a try,” he said with a shrug. Suddenly, Organa had a sharp intake of breath and she looked up at the ceiling. Hux narrowed his eyes in confusion. “What is it?” he asked.

“It looks like your rescue party has arrived,” she said, her eyes still trained above him. 

“My rescue party…?” Hux frowned.  _ Kylo…  _ The idiot was risking himself and the entire Order just to rescue him? Hux knew that they were friends and that he wasn’t easily replaceable, but this was a seriously risky venture. Was Kylo insane? Then he remembered what General Organa had said, about Kylo’s feelings for him. Hux shifted nervously where he sat, chewing his bottom lip in agitation. 

General Organa stood up and made for the door.

“Wait,” Hux said. She turned to look at him. “If Kylo Ren is here, he will slaughter your fighters. Let me go now and we can all walk away from this. Live to fight another day.” The look General Organa gave Hux was a cold one.

“I’ll take my chances.”


	13. Stormpilot/Kylux Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the help of BB-8, Finn, Kylo, and Phasma go to rescue Hux and Poe. But plans change when some true feelings come out.

“The cells are down this hallway,” Finn said as he punched in the code to the door. It slid open with a whir of air to reveal BB-8, who began beeping incessantly as soon as he saw the intruders. “BB-8, shh!” Finn said, leaning down and pressing a finger to his lips in an attempt to convey a message of “shut up” to the droid. “We’re trying to help Poe.” BB-8 whirled his head around to look at Poe’s cell door, then looked back at Finn, questioning. “Yes and no,” said Finn. “Yes we want to get Poe out too, but right now our priority is Grand Marshal l Hux.” BB-8 rolled back a bit, affronted. “Come on, BB-8. Poe loves him. Are you with us or not?” BB-8 seemed to consider for a bit before giving a low beep to signify that, fine, he would help.

“Great,” said Kylo Ren. “The droid can come with me and Phasma to get Hux, and Finn, you can go rescue Poe.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Finn. “Hux’s cell is right down there.” He pointed before running off to Poe’s cell. Kylo turned to BB-8.

“Alright, let’s go,” he said. BB-8 extended a small metallic arm to Kylo before switching up a lighter and turning it on in the force-user’s direction. Kylo frowned, but began to make his way over to Hux’s cell. BB-8 rolled ahead of him and inserted his arm into the wall panel, trying to unlock the door. Within a minute, the door  _ whooshed  _ open and Kylo stepped inside to see Hux, who had jumped up from where he was sitting.

“Kylo, what in the stars are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m rescuing you!”

“But, why?”

“Because…” Kylo paused. He looked into Hux’s eyes and took a deep breath to steel himself for what he was about to say. “I love you.” Hux stepped closer to Kylo and reached a hand up to cup his cheek.

“I know.”

  
  


“Finn! What are you doing here?”

“Don’t worry, Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma are getting Hux out as we speak. I’m here to get you out, too.” Poe blinked several times as he processed what Finn was saying.

“You’re rescuing Hux… for me?” Finn nodded, his expression serious. “Why?”

“I may not like it, but I know he means a lot to you, Poe.” 

“Thank you, Finn… But, hold on. Why are you getting me out? Where am I going?” Finn furrowed his brow. He supposed he hadn’t thought this part entirely through.

“With Hux, I guess. I just want you to be happy, Poe, and he makes you happy, so…”

“Finn, I’m not leaving the Resistance.” They exchanged a glance, each searching the other’s eyes for meaning. “Just leave me here. Leia will decide what to do with me. It won’t be too bad, probably. Just… get Hux out.”

“But don’t you want to be with--”

“There are more important things. Yeah, I love him. But I’ve known from the start, really, that in the long run, we  _ are  _ enemies. And besides, there are other people who can make me just as happy, if not… if not more.” He gazed at Finn meaningfully. Finn felt his heart lighten considerably at Poe’s words.

“Hey,” said a voice from the door. “Are you guys coming?” Finn turned to see Kylo Ren, standing next to Phasma.

“Is Poe in there?” said another voice from behind them. Hux pushed through and into the cell. “Poe,” he breathed as he locked eyes with the pilot. He went over and wrapped his arms around Poe, who hugged him back tightly. Hux pulled back and opened his mouth to say something at the same time that Poe did.

“You shouldn’t come.”

“I’m not coming.” They both blinked and then chuckled.

“I know,” said Hux. “Your place is here, we both know it.”

“And yours is on the other side of this war,” said Poe, reaching up to stroke Hux’s cheek. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I suppose I’ve known from the start how this was going to end.” Poe nodded, a lump forming in his throat.

“It’s too dangerous for us. It’s my fault you got captured in the first place.”

“It’s okay,” Hux said, his heart clenching in his chest.

“We have to go, now. With or without Poe,” said Kylo from the door. Hux squeezed Poe’s hand quickly before turning towards the door.

“Don’t hesitate to call, love,” he said.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Hugs.” And with that, Hux took the hand that Kylo was holding outstretched towards him, and he, Kylo, and Phasma began making their dangerous path off of the ship, leaving Finn and Poe behind. Finn reached over to hold Poe’s hand and squeezed it gently. Poe squeezed back.

 

“Wait, what did you mean, you know?”

“Is this really the time to be talking about this?” Hux rolled his eyes at Kylo’s question as they snuck around towards the back entrance of the ship, where Kylo and Phasma had come in.

“I’m just saying, was I really that obvious?” Kylo asked.

“Well, not really, actually,” replied Hux. Before they rounded a corner , Hux pointed his blaster down the hallway and shot two Resistance members. 

“Hey, Finn said not to kill on this mission.”

“Is Finn here?”

“No.”

“Then I see no problem.” Under her mask, Phasma smirked and cocked her own blaster, suddenly remembering why she was friends with Hux. They reached a locked door and Kylo put in the override code Finn had given them while Phasma shot another couple of Resistance fighters that had come  a round the corner.

“So how did you know, then? About… my feelings?” asked Kylo as they went through the door and started climbing towards the small ship they had taken to get onto the Resistance craft.

“You don’t want to know,” replied Hux as he got into the ship, Phasma covering them from behind as they were pursued.

“I find that answer vague and unconvincing.” Kylo got into the cockpit and started up the craft as Phasma got into the ship and closed the doors behind her. 

“Fine,” said Hux as the ship took off. “I talked to your mother.”

Silence. Then…

“What!” Kylo positively yelled. He flew the ship violently forward, causing both Hux and Phasma to nearly fall over.

“I told you, you didn’t want to know!” Hux said as he regained his footing and sat himself down in the copilot’s chair.

“You talked with my mother? How did  _ she _ even know?”

“It was some Force nonsense.” Hux rolled his eyes. Kylo growled and shoved the hyperdrive forward, propelling the ship into hyperspace. “Phasma, call the Order and give them the location to which we’re headed,” said Hux. “They can meet us there.”

“Yes, sir.” Phasma left the cockpit to go towards the back of the ship to call the  First  Order. Hux sat forward in his chair and looked at Kylo, awkwardly. Kylo shifted nervously in his seat. It was the first time they had been alone since Kylo’s confession.

“So,” said Kylo after a long pause. “I know you’re with Poe, and everything--”

“Weren’t you listening back there, in Poe’s cell?” Hux asked. Kylo had been listening, in truth, but had only barely dared to hope that Poe and Hux had actually officially broken up.

“So… that was a break-up, then?” he asked. Hux sighed.

“Yes… I don’t know who we thought we were kidding with our relationship, really. We’re on opposite sides of a war. It never could have worked.”

“But don’t you love him?”

“Yes. But there are things I love more. I’ve put my heart and soul into the First Order, and well, I’ve finally found someone I care about who’s done the same.” He reached over to place his hand on top of Kylo’s. Kylo’s heart fluttered in his chest. “It took me a while to see it, but I know you truly care for me. It’s a nice feeling, to be cared for. And besides.” He shot Kylo with a sly grin. “I told your mother I would take care of you.” Kylo growled again and grabbed his hand away, turning around in his chair to sulk at the wall. Hux merely laughed.

  
  


Hux picked up right away when Poe called. It was something Poe had always liked about the man.

“Hugs! How have you been?” 

“I’ve been waiting for you to call,” said Hux on the other line. He sounded annoyed but Poe knew he wasn’t too irritated  with him. Poe grinned at the sound of his voice. He was sitting next to Finn on the bed in his room. Finn had his arm around Poe and was pretending to read a book while actually listening to Poe’s radio conversation.

Poe had been nervous to call Hux after their break-up (and break-out), but Finn had encouraged him and now Poe couldn’t be grateful enough. He had almost forgotten what it was like to talk like this with his First Order friend.

“I miss you, Hux,” said Poe.

“I miss you too,” replied Hux, and Poe could hear the smile in his voice. “How are things with you and Finn?”

“Great! We actually got together recently.” Poe smiled and tangled his fingers with Finn’s, squeezing his hand gently. Finn smiled at him as he listened.

“Oh good,” said Hux. “I suppose then our fake dating schtick did end up working out, after all.” Finn blinked several times at this before sitting up straight to look at Poe. Fake dating? Poe turned to see the confused look on Finn’s face.

“What?” Finn asked, his expression one of bewilderment and incredulity. Poe just gave him a guilty smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has read (and especially commented and kudosed on) this fic! It's been super fun to write thanks to the awesome audience I've got. A very special thanks to TheZ1337 (on both ao3 and tumblr) for being an amazing beta! I hope you all enjoyed this fic!


	14. Gingerpilot Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn, Kylo, and Phasma go to rescue Hux and Poe, but end up running into more obstacles than they had bargained for.

“The cells are down this hallway,” Finn said as he punched in the code to the door. It slid open with a whir of air to reveal Rey, having just come from visiting Poe’s cell. She looked between Finn, Kylo, and Phasma, confusion plain on her face. 

“What--”

“I’m just trying to help Poe,” Finn said, rushing over to her.

“Then why are they with you?” She narrowed her eyes at her ex-stormtrooper friend. “You’re not trying to rescue Hux…” Finn have a half shrug as Rey shook her head adamantly. “Finn, no. This is a bad plan. Hux is a war criminal.”

“But if he dies, then Poe--”

“This isn’t about Poe!” Rey yelled. She looked hurt. “There are other people who care about you, and the Resistance, Finn.” Finn studied her, his heart clenching in his chest at her expression.

“Rey--” he was cut off by the sound of her lightsaber igniting. He looked to his side to see that Kylo Ren had tried to sneak past them while they were talking, and Rey had ignited her saber to keep him from going anywhere. Kylo straightened up, avoiding the saber, and frowned.

“Sorry to interrupt this thrilling conversation, but this is a time-sensitive matter.” He ignited his own lightsaber and held it up to Rey’s, looking menacingly into her eyes. “Ready for round three, scavenger scum?” Rey yelled and pushed Finn out of the way as she ran at Kylo to attack. She was thrown off-guard as she was pushed back by Captain Phasma. “This is my fight, Phasma,” said Kylo. “Stay out of it.”

“Forgive me, sir, but given your track record with this rebel scum, I felt it necessary to give you reinforcements.” Kylo growled but didn’t protest further as the two of them advanced on Rey. 

“Don’t hurt her!” Finn yelled, beginning to think that this rescue had been a mistake. He knew Rey could hold her own, and had defeated Kylo Ren twice before, but now she was facing off against both Ren  _ and  _ Phasma. Phasma, who had made Finn’s life hell for years. Phasma, who was known to survive pretty much anything with barely a scratch. Finn looked desperately between the three fighters. Their mission was to get past Rey to rescue Hux, so should he help Ren and Phasma? Or should he abandon the mission and help Rey, his best friend (and admittedly someone for whom his feelings were very complicated)? Or, could he trust Ren and Phasma to keep their word and not kill Rey while he snuck past to the cells? Yes, that seemed like the best idea so far. Even if Ren and Phasma weren’t intending to keep their word of no killing, Rey could probably hold them off until Finn got back with Hux.

Having made a decision, Finn slid past the fight and started heading towards Hux’s cell down the hall. At that moment, the door to the cell slid open and Finn came to an abrupt halt.

As Rey was fighting Phasma, Kylo was about to bring down his saber on one of the scavenger’s wrists to incapacitate her , when he was suddenly frozen. Rey noticed the sudden lack of movement and looked around at Kylo to see his eyes darting about in panic at being unable to move any other part of his body. Their eyes locked onto one another’s for a moment before Kylo’s moved to look somewhere behind Rey. Rey turned around to look as well when she was suddenly hit with a sharp pain in her back.

Finn heard a yell and turned back around in time to see Rey fall to the ground, Phasma standing behind her with her baton outstretched.

“Rey!” he screamed as he ran over to her. He knelt down next to where she lay and ripped off part of his shirt to cover the wound in her back that had blood seeping out of it. Neither him, nor Rey, nor the frozen Kylo noticed Phasma slipping back the way they came and out of sight.

Kylo, meanwhile, was gazing over towards the end of the hallway, thousands of emotions flitting through his eyes. General Leia Organa was standing there, her hand outstretched, holding Kylo in place as Resistance fighters swarmed into the hallway from either side. They were surrounded, and there was nothing Kylo could do about it.

 

Hux wasn’t given a ship with his new home on Tatooine, to which he had been exiled to. He wasn’t permitted to buy one, either. He would stay on this backwater planet, alone, until he died. That didn’t stop him from taking up new hobbies, though.

His small desert house was located near a village, and Hux got all the supplies he needed there to build a lovely backyard. He then began growing desert plants in his new garden, alon g with a sturdy fence around it to keep those pesky space rabbits from ruining his vegetables (but of course that hadn’t stopped them). He also built a porch swing amongst the desert flowers he had planted, and every night he would sit on it and look up at the stars, dreaming of what once was, and reminiscing on how it all got taken away from him. 

With their leaders having been captured by the Resistance, the First Order had fallen, giving way to the rise of a new, New Republic. The leaders of the First Order had been set to be put on trial for war crimes in front of the Intergalactic Court of Justice. Kylo Ren had mysteriously disappeared before his trial date, to no comment from General Organa, and many speculated that she had something to do with his disappearance, for she did not want to have him executed as a war criminal. Grand Marshal Armitage Hux, however, did not have any powerful Republic family to bail him out. He did, however, have one kickass lawyer.

Hux didn’t know where this lawyer had come from or who had hired him, but the young man seemed strangely enthusiastic about representing one of the most hated men in the galaxy. Before conversing with this lawyer, even Hux was positive that he was going to be executed for the destruction of the Hosnian System. But the lawyer managed to change not only his, but the court’s mind as well. He had Hux plead guilty of war crimes for the destruction of every planet in the Hosnian System  _ except  _ for Hosnian Prime. As for Hosnian Prime, the argument was that its destruction was  _ jus ad bellum _ , or justifiable, as an act of war, because of its significance to the New Republic, whom the First Order had been warring against. Because the rest of the planets in the Hosnian System were neither as big nor as populated, Hux got off with just a sentence of exile. 

And then there was the matter as to how this had all happened in the first place.

He didn’t blame Poe at all, but he had barely seen him since his capture a few months ago. They had gotten to see each other once, just before Hux’s trial, and Hux’s heart filled with love upon seeing how heartbroken Poe had been at the prospect of Hux’s impending execution. But Hux had told him not to worry, that his lawyer had come up with a brilliant argument and that they were sure to see each other again someday.

And then they hadn’t.

Hux was looking up at the stars, trying to pick out specific constellations, when he noticed a shape moving through the sky, seemingly right towards him. He sat up straight as the X-Wing landed a few yards away, his heart beating fast. Did he dare to hope? He stood up as the cockpit opened and the pilot climbed out. Hux stepped out of the garden gate as the pilot took off his helmet to reveal curly dark hair.

“Poe…?” Hux said, quietly, but loudly enough for the man to hear him. Poe put his helmet down and then turned to look at Hux with a smile. 

“Hey, Hugs.” Hux stood frozen as he looked at the pilot, who was looking around at their surroundings. “Nice place you got here. Did you plant that stuff yourself?” Hux didn’t answer. By the time Poe was done with his question, Hux had already sprinted halfway over to him , and soon had his arms wound tightly around Poe. Poe hugged Hux back, burying his face in the ginger’s freckled neck. 

 

“So how are Finn and Rey?” Hux asked as he poured Poe a cup of tea.

“They just got engaged, actually!” said Poe as Hux sat down opposite him. “I’m really happy for them.”

“That’s lovely,” said Hux. “Please give them my congratulations when you go back.”

“Back?” Poe paused for a bit. “Actually, I, uh, wasn’t planning on going back.” Hux froze, his teacup halfway to his lips.

“What?”

“If… If you’ll have me, that is.” Hux put his teacup down.

“You… you want to stay here? With me?” Poe shrugged and nodded, giving Hux a small smile. Hux stood up and went over to the other side of the table before leaning down to press his lips against Poe’s. Poe wrapped his arms around Hux as Hux tangled his fingers in Poe’s hair. They kissed for a few moments before Hux pulled away and pressed his forehead against Poe’s. “Of course you can stay.”

“I love you, Hux,” said Poe.

“I love you, too,” said Hux, knowing now that his exile was sure to be much more bearable than once thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has read (and especially commented and kudosed on) this fic! It's been super fun to write thanks to the awesome audience I've got. A very special thanks to TheZ1337 (on both ao3 and tumblr) for being an amazing beta! I hope you all enjoyed this fic!


End file.
